Zinc sérico en menores de 15 a？os de una comunidad rural del estado Lara

the aim of this research was to determine the levels of serum zinc in a rural population under 15 years old, in lara state, venezuela, in order to know the deficiencies of this oligoelement and start the nutritional intervention by the involved organizations. the sample was made up of 310 subjects (m: 163; f: 147) under 15 years old, with an average age of 86.39 months. the serum zinc was measured by atomic absortion spectrophotometry. the serum zinc level was 0.83 ± 0.18 μg/ml. deficiency of zinc (values = 0.72 μg/ml) was presented in 19.7% of the subjects; the most affected were those under two years old. likewise, the highest percentage of zinc deficiency was observed in subjects with nutritional deficit followed by those that had a normal nutritional condition. by splitting the group of subjects with zinc deficiencies by age and nutritional condition, it was observed that 55.6% of those under two years old had a normal nutritional condition and the remaining 44.4% showed nutritional deficiency. meanwhile, more than 70% of the subjects with zinc deficiency belonging to the groups aged 2-6 and 7-14 showed a normal nutritional condition. all the subjects with nutritional deficit belonged to families living in extreme poverty. due to the negative consecuences that imply the lack of zinc, it is necessary to make a more accurate diagnosis of its deficiency through indirect methods like the zinc tolerance test or oral supplementation of zinc, in order to identify population with risk of zinc deficiencies. likewise, to start intervention programs with this oligoelement, especially in the vulnerable child population like the one studied.