Introduction:

Zinc deficiency is considered a global health problem. There is scarce information on zinc’s nutritional state in Cuban childbearing-aged women.

Objective:

Identify zinc and serum copper deficiency in childbearing-aged women, based on related factors, such as anemia, inflammation, excess weight and abdominal adiposity.

Methods:

104 seemingly healthy women from Havana, aged 18 to 40 were studied. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The determination of zinc, copper, hemoglobin, ferritin, C-reactive protein, alpha 1 glycoprotein, weight, size and minimum waist circumference was made, and the body mass index was calculated. International breakpoints were used for evaluation.

Results:

The prevalence of iron deficiency, estimated by serum ferritin, zinc and serum copper was 66.3%(67/101), 36.2% (34/94) and 19.1% (18/94), respectively. Of women, 23.5% (24/102) had anemia, and 8.8% had inflammation (9/102) and 13% (13/100) estimated by CRP and AGP. Women with overweight 52.9% (54/102) and abdominal adiposity 61.8% (60/97) predominated.

Conclusions:

The risk of zinc deficiency in the sample is high, the prevalence of decreased serum Zn exceeds 20%. There is no criterion for assessing the risk of copper deficiency as a public health problem. Zinc and copper deficiencies do not appear to be associated with anemia, inflammation and overall nutritional status. Additional tests are required to identify the magnitude of zinc and copper deficiencies and their possible causes.

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