WHO recommends zinc for sick kids. Not many supplements can say that.
Zinc sits on the shelf next to every other immune product, and it gets treated the same way. It shouldn't be.Immune cells can't work without it. Neutrophils, NK cells, T cells, B cells all need zinc. In deficiency the thymus where T cells are made actually shrinks. And mild shortfall is enough to weaken the response.It's been tested in kids. A Cochrane review of 6 trials and 5,193 children found zinc cut pneumonia by 13%, and 21% in the trials that confirmed it by X-ray.
WHO recommends it directly — 10–20 mg a day for 10–14 days for a child with diarrhoea. Very few supplements have a WHO recommendation for children.
For colds, started early, about two days shorter.
The effect is biggest where intake was already short, which is just what a nutrient does. It fills a gap, it's not a drug.
Anyone actually tracking zinc intake, or just assuming food covers it?
Sources
- Zinc Signals and Immunity: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5666901
- Cochrane, zinc and pneumonia in children: https://www.cochrane.org/evidence/CD005978_zinc-supplementation-prevention-pneumonia-children-aged-two-59-months
- NIH ODS, zinc: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/