TY - JOUR
TI - Vitamin D deficiency and calcium intake in reference to increased body
mass index in children and adolescents
AU - Al-Musharaf, Sara
AU - Al-Othman, Abdulaziz
AU - Al-Daghri, Nasser M. and
AU - Krishnaswamy, Soundararajan
AU - Yusuf, Deqa S.
AU - Alkharfy, Khalid M.
AU - and Al-Saleh, Yousef
AU - Al-Attas, Omar S.
AU - Alokail, Majed S. and
AU - Moharram, Osama
AU - Yakout, Sobhy
AU - Sabico, Shaun
AU - Chrousos, George
AU - P.
JO - European Journal of Pediatrics
PY - 2012
VL - 171
TODO - 7
SP - 1081-1086
PB - Springer-Verlag
SN - 0340-6199, 1432-1076
TODO - 10.1007/s00431-012-1686-8
TODO - Obesity; Calcium intake; Vitamin D deficiency; Saudi adolescents
TODO - Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to several chronic diseases in
adults. Studies focusing on children and adolescents, however, are
limited. In this randomized cross-sectional study, we aimed to determine
the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its relationship with
childhood obesity and dietary calcium intake among a population of
healthy urban Saudi children and adolescents. To achieve this, 331
randomly selected Saudi children (53.8% females and 46.2% males) aged
6-17 years were included. Demographic, medical, and dietary information
were collected; anthropometrics were measured. Levels of serum fasting
glucose, lipid profile, 25(OH) D, and for albumin corrected calcium were
analyzed. Vitamin D deficiency was noted in all subjects, with girls
having significantly lower vitamin D levels than boys. Mean calcium
intake was found to be 60% of the required dietary allowance (RDA),
while the mean vitamin D intake was 23% of RDA. Vitamin D status and
calcium intake were comparable in both normal and overweight/obese
children and adolescents. Vitamin D status was highest among children
who had calcium intake > 800 mg/day. In adolescents there was
insignificant but decreasing trend in BMI, which was observed to be
highest among those whose calcium intake was < 250 mg/day and lowest
among those taking > 800 mg/day. Conclusion: results from this study
suggest the importance of vitamin D fortification and increased dietary
calcium in the Saudi diet to meet RDA requirements and avoid onset of
vitamin D deficiency-related diseases in Saudi children and adolescents.
ER -