Millions of U.S. children may suffer from suboptimal levels of vitamin D, which would put them at risk, according to a study released in the November issue of Pediatrics.
Medical professionals are still debating on the optimal amount of vitamin D supplementation and the healthy blood level of vitamin D.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children should have vitamin D levels of at least 50 nmol/L (20 ng/ml). But other studies in adults suggest that vitamin D levels should be at least 75 nmol/L (30 ng/ml), and possibly 100 nmol/L (40 ng/ml), to lower the risk of heart disease and specific cancers.
Jonathan Mansbach at Children's Hospital Boston and his collaborators from the University of Colorado Denver and Massachusetts General Hospital used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to look at vitamin D levels in a nationally representative sample of roughly 5,000 children from 2001-2006.
Their analysis suggests that roughly 20 percent of all children fell below the recommended 50 nmol/L. More than two-thirds of all children had levels below 75 nmol/L, including 80 percent of Hispanic children and 92
percent of non-Hispanic black children.
This is the most up-to-date analysis of vitamin D levels in U.S. children. It shows levels have fallen below what is considered healthy, and black and Hispanic children are at particularly high risk.
"If 75 nmol/L or higher is eventually demonstrated to be the healthy normal level of vitamin D, then there is much more vitamin D deficiency in the U.S. than people realize," said Mansbach.
Mansbach and his collaborators suggest all children take vitamin D supplements to boost vitamin D to normal levels.
Researchers said vitamin D improves bone health and prevents rickets in children, and recent studies suggest it also may prevent a host of common childhood illnesses, including respiratory infections, childhood wheezing,
and winter-related eczema.
"We need to perform randomized controlled trials to understand if vitamin D actually improves these wide-ranging health outcomes," Mansbach
added.
He said at present there are a lot of studies demonstrating associations between low levels of vitamin D and poor health. Therefore he
believes many children in the United States would likely benefit from more vitamin D.