What do systematic reviews say?

Zinc vs no zinc supplementation

Zinc supplementation showed no clear difference in all‐cause mortality compared with no zinc supplementation (high certainty).

• Zinc supplementation for preventing mortality, morbidity, and growth failure in children aged 6 months to 12 years 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.93 [0.84, 1.03]
  16 studies · 143474 participants
  High

Zinc vs no zinc supplementation

Zinc supplementation showed no clear difference in mortality due to all‐cause diarrhea compared with no zinc supplementation (moderate certainty).

• Zinc supplementation for preventing mortality, morbidity, and growth failure in children aged 6 months to 12 years 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.95 [0.69, 1.31]
  4 studies · 132321 participants
  Moderate

Zinc vs no zinc supplementation

Zinc supplementation showed no clear difference in mortality due to LRTI compared with no zinc supplementation (moderate certainty).

• Zinc supplementation for preventing mortality, morbidity, and growth failure in children aged 6 months to 12 years 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.86 [0.64, 1.15]
  3 studies · 132063 participants
  Moderate

Zinc vs no zinc supplementation

Zinc supplementation showed no clear difference in mortality due to malaria compared with no zinc supplementation (moderate certainty).

• Zinc supplementation for preventing mortality, morbidity, and growth failure in children aged 6 months to 12 years 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.9 [0.77, 1.06]
  2 studies · 42818 participants
  Moderate

Zinc vs no zinc supplementation

Zinc supplementation probably leads to lower incidence of all‐cause diarrhea compared with no zinc supplementation (moderate certainty).

• Zinc supplementation for preventing mortality, morbidity, and growth failure in children aged 6 months to 12 years 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 0.91 [0.9, 0.93]
  39 studies · 19468 participants
  Moderate

Zinc vs no zinc supplementation

Zinc supplementation showed no clear difference in incidence of LRTI compared with no zinc supplementation (high certainty).

• Zinc supplementation for preventing mortality, morbidity, and growth failure in children aged 6 months to 12 years 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.01 [0.95, 1.08]
  19 studies · 10555 participants
  High

Zinc vs no zinc supplementation

• Zinc supplementation for preventing mortality, morbidity, and growth failure in children aged 6 months to 12 years 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  74 studies · 20720 participants
  Moderate

Zinc vs no zinc supplementation

Zinc supplementation leads to higher participants with ≥ 1 vomiting episode compared with no zinc supplementation (high certainty).

• Zinc supplementation for preventing mortality, morbidity, and growth failure in children aged 6 months to 12 years 2023 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  RR 1.29 [1.14, 1.46]
  5 studies · 35192 participants
  High