Erythrocyte and dietary zinc in adolescent females.

Erythrocyte zinc has been suggested as an index of zinc status. This study was undertaken to investigate the possible relationships of erythrocyte zinc concentration to age, physical maturity, and zinc intake of teenage girls of two races. Dietary zinc was calculated from two 1-day food recalls, and erythrocyte zinc was determined for over three hundred 12-, 14- and 16-yr-old girls in Oklahoma and Virginia. Erythrocyte zinc concentration increased and the intake of zinc from the diet decreased after attainment of menarche. Among girls of the same menarcheal state, age was not related to zinc intake, but concentration of zinc in erythrocytes increased with each 2-yr age increment in those that were past menarche. Results did not show a direct relationship of erythrocyte zinc values to calculated intakes of zinc by adolescent females. Black and white races did not differ in either zinc intake or red cell zinc content.