Vitamin D Lacking in Over 6 Million Kids

Harvard Med School Professor Dr. Jonathan Mansbach, who is a pediatrician at Children's Hospital Boston has reported to the research community that a high number of studies demonstrate significant association between low levels of Vitamin D and a number of poor health outcomes. Given the preponderance of data and the safety profile of vitamin D, he posits that many U.S. children would likely benefit from more vitamin D.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children attain blood levels of vitamin D of at least 50 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L), while for adults, studies have found at least 75 nmol/L and perhaps up to 100 nmol/L could lower the risk of heart disease and specific cancers, researchers say.

For the study, reported in the November issue of Pediatrics, Mansbach and colleagues collected data on about 5,000 children under age 12 who participated in the 2001-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Based on these data, the researchers found that 6.3 million U.S. children -- almost one in 5 -- were at less than the recommended 50 nmol/L level of vitamin D.

Researchers found that 6.3 million U.S. children -- almost one in 5 -- had less than the recommended levels of Vitamin D. Low levels of Vitamin D are associated with a host of poor health outcomes.

Moreover, more than two-thirds of children (24 million) have vitamin levels below 75 nmol/L, including 80 percent of Hispanic children, 92 percent of black children and 59 percent of white children, Mansbach said.

Children taking multivitamins that included vitamin D had higher levels overall, but less than half of all children were taking a multivitamin, the researchers said.

Sun exposure is best for obtaining vitamin D, because the skin manufactures the nutrient upon exposure to sunlight. However, during the winter, UVB rays in the Northeast are insufficient for vitamin D production, experts say, and sunscreen use in summer can also reduce the skin's ability to produce vitamin D. Only a few foods contain vitamin D naturally, namely fatty fish such as salmon, egg yolks, some cheese and some meats, including liver. Milk and some cereals are fortified with vitamin D.

Mansbach recommends vitamin D supplements, especially for those living in areas where the sun is scarce in the winter. 

While summer sunlight exposure is the major source of vitamin D for most people, too much sun exposure can cause sunburns and eventually skin cancer. Until more research is performed, researchers think the safest bet is to take vitamin D supplements.  On a population basis, it's also easier for people to take vitamin D supplements.

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to osteoporosis, fractures, muscle strength and falls, and low levels of vitamin D have been associated with several kinds of cancers, and there may be a link with cardiovascular disease, according to nutritionist and exercise physiologist, Samantha Heller.

Adults would benefit from vitamin D supplements as well, she added in an interview. Adults and children need somewhere between 800 and 1,000 International Units (IUs) of vitamin D a day.

Dr. Michael F. Holick, professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics and director of the Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory at the Boston University School of Medicine, indicated that researchers including himself and other experts estimate that...

vitamin D deficiency is "the most common medical condition in the world."

He recommends that children should take vitamin D supplements and be less afraid of sensible sun exposure. At a minimum, from the time a child is born, they should be on 400 IU of vitamin D a day, he told Medline interviewers. And, after the age of 1, they should be up to 1,000 IU per day, and teenagers should definitely be on 2,000 IU a day, according to Holick.

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SOURCES: Jonathan Mansbach, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston; Samantha Heller, R.D., C.D.N., registered dietitian, clinical nutritionist, exercise physiologist, Fairfield, Conn.; Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D., professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics,director, Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory, Boston University School of Medicine; November 2009, Pediatrics