Vitamin D Deficiency and Insufficiency According to the Current Criteria for Children: Vitamin D Status of Elementary School Children in Turkey
J Clin Res Pediatr Endocrinol. 2019 Jun; 11(2): 181–188, doi: 10.4274/jcrpe.galenos.2018.2018.0272
F. Sinem Hocaoğlu-Emre,1,* Devrim Sarıbal,2 and Osman Oğuz3
- Rickets reduced 60X - lessons learned by Turkey 2011
- Vitamin D for FREE to all infants in Turkey, but NOT children
- Romania joins Turkey in giving free Vitamin D to all infants – 2018
- Third study found that Infants needed 1600 IU of vitamin D – JAMA RCT May 2013
- Generaly 2X or 3X more Vitamin D if obese
- Normal weight Obese (50 ng = 125 nanomole)
- All preteen aged girls in India taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D got levels above 20 ng – RCT Nov 2018
Suspected by the founder of VitaminDWiki
Suspect a bimodal distribution of vitamin D levels:
1) Higher levels if child got Vitamin D from parents - carr-on from free govt. Vitamin D for infants
2) Lower levels if no Vitamin D supplementation
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Objective:
This study aimed to determine the ratio of seasonal vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in elementary school children aged between 6-9 years old, living in one of the largest metropols of Europe, İstanbul.
Methods:
Serum 25(OH)D levels of 640 children aged 6-9 years old were scanned retrospectively from the hospital information system records between September 2017-August 2018 period. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as a serum 25(OH)D level less than 12 ng/mL (30 nmol/L) and insufficiency as levels between 12 and 20 ng/mL (30-50 nmol/L).
Results:
Serum 25(OH)D levels ranged from 3.90 to 64.60 ng/mL, the median value was 25.95 ng/mL for all subjects. Of all the primary school children, 485 (75.78%) had adequate levels of 25(OH)D. Vitamin D deficiency was observed in 36 of children (5.62%), whereas insufficient levels of 25(OH)D were found in 119 children (18.60%). The ratio of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency together was highest in spring (31.87%) and lowest in summer (13.12%).
Conclusion:
Vitamin D deficiency is a widely observed and preventable public health problem among children of different ages. It is necessary to increase the awareness among health professionals, and providing 25(OH)D supplements will yield generations with healthy bone structure and well growth.