Zinc Plays a Vital Role in Children's Health

As one of the largest producers of zinc, Teck is committed to supporting programs to help deliver this essential nutrient to children in need.

Did you know that approximately 450,000 young children around the world will die this year because they didn’t get enough zinc in their diets? Or that one-third of the world’s population is at risk of zinc deficiency, one of the major factors contributing to diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria?

In most of the western world, diets are varied enough that we consume the amounts of zinc needed for proper physical and brain development. Zinc also helps fight off infections and strengthen our immune systems. In developing countries, however, more than 80 per cent of a person’s caloric intake usually comes from staple crops such as rice, maize and wheat, and if those crops do not contain enough zinc, then the person eating those crops is at risk of zinc deficiency.

Teck CEO, Don Lindsay, through his role as chair of the International Zinc Association (IZA), has championed the efforts of international non-governmental organizations to combat zinc deficiency.

We are committed to increase awareness of – and find a solution to – zinc deficiency. We are proud that the zinc mined at our operations in Alaska and Peru helps ensure better crops, healthier people and a vibrant and sustainable agriculture industry for the developing world.

One of these efforts is the IZA’s Zinc Saves Kids initiative, which works through UNICEF to provide zinc supplementation to children living in zinc-deficient regions.