Zi nc deficiency is a major public health concern and one of the most prevalent micronutrientrndeficiencies in developing countries, including Eth iopia. There was no information on se rumrnzinc status of in fan ts and preschool chi ldren in Ethiopia n. The main objective of this study wasrnto assess the prevalence and risk factors of zinc deficiency among infants and preschoolrnchildren. A community based, cross-sectiona l study was conducted in East Gojjam zonernbetween October and April 2011. Randomly se lected 240 infa nts and preschool children werernincluded in the study. Data on potential determinants of zinc deficiency were co llected using arnstructured questionnaire . Serum zinc concen tration was measured using Atom ic AbsorptionrnSpectrometer. Anthropometric measurement analysis was done by using Emergency NutritionrnAssessment 2011 software. Sta ti stica l analysis was done using ANOVA and Student's tindependentrnt est and linear regression model. The mean serum zinc concentration of infantsrnand preschool children was 62.98 (Â±13.03) Ilg/d l (95% CI : 61.32, 64.63 Ilg/d l). About 57.1% ofrnthe subjects were zinc deficient. Height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height revealedrnthat 43.3% (95% CI: 37.10, 49.60), 19.7% (95% CI: 15.20, 25.30) and 5.9% (95% CI: 3.60, 9.70) ofrnthe total subjects were found to be stun ted, underweight and wasted, respectively. The mainrndeterminants of low serum zinc status of infants and preschool children were age and numberrnof family members living on the same land. Compared to infant age groups, zinc status of olderrnchildren is 3.67Ilg/dl (95% CI : -5.58, -1.77 Ilg/dl) lower than children who were aged 6-10rnmonths. Serum zinc st atus of infants and preschool children is decreased by 0.83 Ilg/dl (95% CI:-rn1.36, -0.30 Ilg/d l) with one unit increase the number of fam ily members. Household foodrninse cu rity level, dietary diversity, sex, ch ild health, anthropometric indices, materna l education,rnand socioeconomic status were not associated with serum zi nc status. The prevalence of zincrndeficiency was more than two-fold of the val ue set by IZiNCG. Such potential deficienciesrnrequire urgent attention needs including complementary food prepa ration education;rntraditiona l phytate reduction method and family planning implementation are recommended inrnthe study area.rnKEYWORDS: Serum zinc concentration, Zinc deficiency, Infant and preschool chi ldren