Assessment of effect of the maternal dietary zinc intake on its level in Breast milk among nursing mothers in Baqubah city

Background: Daily dietary intake of zinc that absorbed by the nursing mother is always associated with good lactation and with the quantity and quality of the milk produced. Objective: The purpose of this study is to estimate the effect of dietary zinc intake on zinc content of breast milk and determine the association between maternal dietary zinc intake of zinc and content of zinc in breast milk. Methods: Nursing mothers of (infants) volunteered to take part in this study selected from those who were cared for at Al-Takiah Maternal and Child Health Center, Baqubah city- Diyala Governorate, during July 2015 till February 2016. Individual samples of breast milk were obtained from 50 mothers at different times postpartum for zinc estimation, dietary intake were collected using quantitative 24 – hours food recalls. Results: The result revealed that the mean zinc distribution (zinc intake) of the nursing mothers in this study was (11.26± 2.13 mg/day) and its’ mean concentration in brunt milk was (0.6± 0.2 mg/100 ml. The relationships between maternal zinc intake and milk zinc content was obtained with a significant positive correlation (r = 0.61 p < 0.01). Conclusion: The results show that there is a need to increase the consumption of food rich with zinc content. Thus a regular monitoring of zinc breast milk level is the appropriate application.