Zinc Helps Kids Think

By:   Jean Carper

More zinc may help your child learn faster, says James J. Penland, a researcher for the USDA Human Nutrition Center.

In a new study, he gave 209 seventh-graders a morning glass of fruit juice - either plain or fortified with 10 or 20 milligrams of zinc. Kids who drank the 20mg-zinc juice daily for three months did best on a battery of computer tests of mental and motor skills. Compared with students who drank plain juice, the 20mg-zinc drinkers improved twice as much on a visual memory test and three times as much on word recognition.

The bottom line: The optimal learning dose in this study was 20mg, more than previously thought to be needed.

Copyright 2004 Jean Carper. Printed first in USA Weekend. All rights reserved.

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