1961年Prasad 等首次报道人体锌缺乏,并于1967年在埃及用锌治疗22名营养性侏儒症患者的生长迟缓和性不发育获得成功。其后,对锌与人体营养及健康的关系曾进行了大量研究,其中较引人注目的工作是影响锌生物利用率(bioavailability)的膳食因素,以及提出了膳食锌需要量。锌缺乏,特别是临界性锌缺乏(marginal zinc deficiency),是一种世界范围的营养缺乏病。其原因为世界大部分地区人群膳食中锌的生物利用性不好,尽管 Prasad et al. First reported human zinc deficiency in 1961 and succeeded in the growth retardation and sexual retardation of 22 nutritional dwarfism patients treated with zinc in Egypt in 1967. Since then, a great deal of research has been conducted on the relationship between zinc and human nutrition and health, of which the more striking work is the dietary factors that affect the bioavailability of zinc and the dietary zinc requirement. Zinc deficiency, especially the marginal zinc deficiency, is a worldwide nutritional deficit. The reason for this is that the bioavailability of zinc in the diet of most parts of the world is poor, though