Summary
Studies on vitamin D deficiency status and its impact on bone health in a developing country are limited. We assessed the bone mineral density and vitamin D levels in healthy school-going children of Western India. Around 65% children had vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D levels had good correlation with bone mineral density.
Purpose
Vitamin D is an important substrate in the metabolism of calcium homeostasis and skeletal metabolism. Epidemiological studies on vitamin D deficiency status and its impact on bone mineral metabolism in healthy children in a developing country are limited. We assessed the bone mineral density and vitamin D levels in healthy school-going children of Western India.
Methods
We measured serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) in healthy school-going children, aged 60 to 120 months. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan was done to assess the bone mineral density (BMD). The BMD status was compared with the levels of 25(OH)D and serum parathormone hormone in all the children.
Results
A total of 100 school-going children were examined for evidence of vitamin D deficiency and 65% had deficiency (less than 50 nmol/L). The mean age was 90 months in males and 89 months in females. In the vitamin D-deficient group, the mean BMD (gm/cm2) measurements for the lumbar spine was 0.439 ± 0.098 (p < 0.001) and the mean BMD (gm/cm2) in the normal group was 0.606 ± 0.071 (p < 0.001). Pearson’s and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients between vitamin D levels and BMD z score showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.82, ρ = 0.924).
Conclusions
We confirmed the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among healthy school-going children. The serum levels of vitamin 25(OH)D has a good correlation with bone mineral density.