Independent of the actual index profile of a single-cladded dispersion-shifted single-mode fiber, it is shown that the loss components given in the headline at the zero dispersion wavelength λ
0accurately can be obtained by simple expressions that only depend on the Laplace spot size value at λ
0. With

m, these relations are used to estimate and minimize the total loss in single-cladded dispersion-shifted fibers with arbitrary core-index profiles.