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Factors influencing the vitamin D status of 10-year-old urban South African children.

Summary


OBJECTIVE:
Assessment of vitamin D status in a cohort of healthy 10-year-old urban children and the factors that influence vitamin D status in these children.
DESIGN:
A cross-sectional study. Blood samples were collected across four seasons of the year for the biochemical determination of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]. Anthropometric measurements (height and weight), BMI and total fat and lean mass (determined by the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) were measured. 25(OH)D concentrations were assessed by chemiluminescent assay.
SETTING:
Study of children in the Greater Johannesburg area of South Africa who form the Bone Health sub-cohort of the longitudinal Birth to Twenty cohort.
SUBJECTS:
Three hundred and eighty-five children who form the Bone Health sub-cohort of the longitudinal Birth to Twenty cohort.
RESULTS:
White children had significantly higher 25(OH)D than their black peers (120.0 (sd 36.6) nmol/l v. 93.3 (sd 34.0) nmol/l, respectively). Seasonal variations in 25(OH)D levels were found only in white children, with 25(OH)D levels being significantly higher in white than in black children during the autumn and summer months. In multiple regression analysis, season, ethnicity, sex and total fat mass were the factors found to have an influence on 25(OH)D. Vitamin D deficiency (7 %) and insufficiency (19 %) were uncommon among the 10-year-old children.
CONCLUSIONS:
Vitamin D supplementation or fortification is not warranted in healthy children living in Johannesburg. However, further studies need to confirm this in other regions of the country, especially in those living further south and with less sunshine during the winter months.

Affiliation

MRC Mineral Metabolism Research Unit & Birth to Twenty Research Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, The University of the Witwatersrand, PO Bertsham, 2013 Johannesburg, South

Journal Details

Name: Public health nutrition
ISSN: 1475-2727
Pages: 1-6

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MESH Definitions

Urban Health

The status of health in urban populations.

Health Behavior

Behaviors expressed by individuals to protect, maintain or promote their health status. For example, proper diet, and appropriate exercise are activities perceived to influence health status. Life style is closely associated with health behavior and factors influencing life style are socioeconomic, educational, and cultural.

Vitamin A Deficiency

A nutritional condition produced by a deficiency of VITAMIN A in the diet, characterized by NIGHT BLINDNESS and other ocular manifestations such as dryness of the conjunctiva and later of the cornea (XEROPHTHALMIA). Vitamin A deficiency is a very common problem worldwide, particularly in developing countries as a consequence of famine or shortages of vitamin A-rich foods. In the United States it is found among the urban poor, the elderly, alcoholics, and patients with malabsorption. (From Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 19th ed, p1179)

Vitamin K

A lipid cofactor that is required for normal blood clotting. Several forms of vitamin K have been identified: VITAMIN K 1 (phytomenadione) derived from plants, VITAMIN K 2 (menaquinone) from bacteria, and synthetic naphthoquinone provitamins, VITAMIN K 3 (menadione). Vitamin K 3 provitamins, after being alkylated in vivo, exhibit the antifibrinolytic activity of vitamin K. Green leafy vegetables, liver, cheese, butter, and egg yolk are good sources of vitamin K.

Confounding Factors (epidemiology)

Factors that can cause or prevent the outcome of interest, are not intermediate variables, and are not associated with the factor(s) under investigation. They give rise to situations in which the effects of two processes are not separated, or the contribution of causal factors cannot be separated, or the measure of the effect of exposure or risk is distorted because of its association with other factors influencing the outcome of the study.

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