Vitamin D Insufficiency in Adolescents

Abstract

Background: There is, now increasing evidence that Vitamin D deficiency is widespread across the country and in all age groups. However, we find no studies on prevalence of vitamin d deficiency in healthy adolescent boys and girls and its relationship with overweight and obesity. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was carried out in 226 apparently healthy boys and girls aged 12 to 18 years of high schools and junior colleges in the city. A pretested Questionnaire was administered to collect information on socio demographics, sun exposure, medical and nutritional history. Anthropometry and 3 ml of blood sample was collected for Vitamin D. 25 hydoxy-vitamin D was estimated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results: 47.3% of the study subjects were boys. The overall Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in the study subjects was 79.9% (CI 73.94 to 84.83) and 18.3% respectively. The odds of Vitamin D deficiency was significantly lower 0.37 (CI 0.19,0.73) in boys compared to girls (P =0.006) and higher 2.66 (CI 1.32,5.35) in rural areas (P=0.007). Vitamin D deficiency was not significantly associated with overweight and obesity (P=0.11). Conclusion: Our study highlights the high prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency among adolescent girls and boys in and around the city of Hyderabad which is geographically located at 17.3850° N, 78.4867° E in the state, despite abundant sunshine throughout the year. While obesity was not significantly related to vitamin D status, urban residence and being a girl were significantly related; similar to other studies in literature.