The Effects of Zinc and Iron Supplementation on Anemia Status and Academic Performance Among Female Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62872/jn.v3i2.650Keywords:
Iron and Zinc Supplementation, Anemia, Academic PerformanceAbstract
Anemia is common among adolescent and young adult women and is widely believed to impair concentration and school performance. Iron supplementation is the standard response, while zinc has been proposed as a complementary micronutrient. This article synthesizes recent evidence on how iron and zinc supplementation affect anemia status and cognitive or academic outcomes among female students. A structured narrative review was conducted. Thirty-two records exported from two reference-manager searches were de-duplicated to 22, and three further peer-reviewed articles published since 2021 were added, giving 25 sources for qualitative synthesis. Iron supplementation consistently raised hemoglobin and reduced anemia risk, and moderate to high doses, whether daily or weekly, performed similarly. Effects on cognition were more evident for intelligence-test scores and attention than for school grades, and most trials carried moderate or high risk of bias. Evidence for zinc was sparse: one small uncontrolled Indonesian study reported hemoglobin rising from 10.6 to 12.4 g/dL after 30 days, whereas a meta-analysis of 129 trials found that adding zinc to iron did not enhance, and may slightly attenuate, the anemia response. Adherence, diet quality, and nutrition education shaped outcomes. Iron remains the evidence-based core of school anemia programs; the added value of zinc is plausible but unproven.
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