Bevis Leah E M, Hestrin Rachel
Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America.
Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2020 Jul 9;15(7):e0234770. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234770. eCollection 2020.
Zinc (Zn) deficiency is one of the most common micronutrient deficiencies worldwide. Accurate estimates of Zn intake would facilitate the design and implementation of effective nutritional interventions.
We sought to improve estimates of dietary Zn intake by evaluating staple crop Zn content and dietary Zn consumption by children under the age of 5 in 9 rural districts of Uganda.
We measured the Zn content of 581 crop samples from household farms and 167 crop samples from nearby markets, and administered food frequency questionnaires to the primary caretakers of 237 children. We estimated Zn consumption using 3 sources of crop Zn content: (i) the HarvestPlus food composition table (FCT) for Uganda, (ii) measurements from household crops, and (iii) measurements from market crops.
The Zn content of staple crops varied widely, resulting in significantly different estimates of dietary Zn intake. 41% of children appeared to be at risk when estimates were based on market-sampled crops, 23% appeared at risk when estimates were based on the HarvestPlus FCT, and 16% appeared at risk when estimates were based on samples from household farms.
The use of FCTs to calculate Zn intake overestimated the risk of dietary inadequacy for children who primarily consumed staple crops that were produced on household farms, but underestimated the risk for children who primarily consumed staple crops that were purchased at market. More information on the Zn content of staple crops in developing countries could lead to more accurate estimates of dietary intake and associated deficiencies.
锌（Zn）缺乏是全球最常见的微量营养素缺乏症之一。准确估计锌摄入量将有助于设计和实施有效的营养干预措施。
我们试图通过评估乌干达9个农村地区5岁以下儿童的主要作物锌含量和膳食锌消费量来改进膳食锌摄入量的估计。
我们测量了来自家庭农场的581份作物样本和附近市场的167份作物样本的锌含量，并向237名儿童的主要照料者发放了食物频率问卷。我们使用3种作物锌含量来源估计锌消费量：（i）乌干达的收获计划食物成分表（FCT），（ii）家庭作物的测量值，以及（iii）市场作物的测量值。
主要作物的锌含量差异很大，导致膳食锌摄入量的估计值显著不同。当基于市场抽样作物进行估计时，41%的儿童似乎处于风险中；当基于收获计划FCT进行估计时，23%的儿童似乎处于风险中；当基于家庭农场的样本进行估计时，16%的儿童似乎处于风险中。
使用食物成分表来计算锌摄入量高估了主要食用家庭农场生产的主要作物的儿童膳食不足的风险，但低估了主要食用在市场购买的主要作物的儿童的风险。关于发展中国家主要作物锌含量的更多信息可能会导致对膳食摄入量和相关缺乏症的更准确估计。
