THE FREQUENCY OF VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY AMONG IRANIAN CHILDREN

Background Iran is a tropical country and yet there is widespread vitamin D deficiency among our infants and children. Ourstudy was conducted toassess the Vitamin D statusinchildren in and around Iran. Methods This cross sectional study was conducted in196children from the newborn period to 18 ears of age. Under strict aseptic precautions 2 ml of blood was takenfrom each childand serum levels of 25(OH) Dlevels were measured by the direct ELISA method. Results Median age was 59 months (range 2–161); 3.1% were vitamin D deficient, 19.4% insufficient. There was no significant difference in mean 25 (OH)D level between Indigenous (93.2, standard deviation (SD) 21.9, n = 82) and non-Indigenous (97.3, SD 27.9, n = 112) children (P = 0.32).Median number of hospitalizations/year were similar (P = 0.319) between vitamin D sufficient (0.34, range 0–12, n = 152) and insufficient (0.22, 0–6, n = 44) children. There was no significant difference between the number of infective admissions per year between vitamin D sufficient/insufficient groups (P = 0.119). Conclusion Suboptimal vitamin D status is common among otherwise healthy young children. Predictors of vitamin D status vary in infants vs toddlers, information that is important to consider in the care of these young patients. More information is needed about the optimum level of vitamin D for non-bone-related health in children.

Vitamin D deficiency, Prevalence, Children.