epidemic of poor vitamin D status among 9-12 years old children in Tehran, 2008, using HPLC: need for an urgent action

Background and Objectives: vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency is a global health problem. The importance of this problem is doubled in growing children because of their increased need for skeletal growth. This investigation was performed firstly to assess vitamin D status, and secondly to examine its possible relationship with sex, residing area and duration of sun exposure in 9-12 years old children of Tehran

Materials and Methods: we studied 257 randomly selected children out of 1111 children of a huge study, titled "Vitamin D and Calcium Deficiency Prevalence of Tehran's Elementary School Children [VDPT]", performed in fall and winter 2008 in Tehran. The children were without the history of diabetes, allergy or autoimmune disease, and any calcium, vitamin D and fish oil supplement use during the last three months. Venous blood samples were taken, and the sera were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography [HPLC] for measuring 25-hydroxycalciferol [25[OH] D]

Results: the participating children comprised of 53.7% girls and 46.3% boys from different economical areas of Tehran [40.5% poor, 26% middle and 33.5% rich]. Their mean age was 10.1+/-0.7 years, mean duration of sun exposure was 41.2+/-34.6 min/day, and mean serum 25[OH]D concentration was 21.9+/-15.6 nmol/L. Duration of sun exposure was not significantly different either between boys and girls [p=0.220], among different residing areas [p= 0.057], or between the girls and boys of different areas. The occurrence of vitamin D deficiency was 72.4% [n=186]. Vitamin D status was significantly different between boys and girls [p= 0.01] and among the areas [P= 0.004]. There was no significant relation between poor vitamin D status and duration of sun exposure [p=0.411]

Conclusions: the findings showed a noticeable occurrence of vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency among 9-12 years old children in Tehran. The data warrants urgent interventions

[Food supplements: opportunity or threat]

Diet and nutrition play an important role in the maintenance of health and prevention of diseases. The body requires different types of micro and macronutrients in order to function optimally and they must be supplied through diet, "a balanced and varied diet is one that contains all the different necessary micronutrients". Dietary supplements should be considered as an important source of nutrients for those who are unable to maintain an adequate or safe oral intake. Although many of these supplements can be beneficial, they are also of concern because of potential adverse effects and interactions with other medications and dietary supplements. Food supplements are defined as concentrated sources of nutrients [vitamins and minerals] or other substances with a physiological or nutritional effect, like herbs, amino acids, carbohydrates, fats, enzymes and probiotics which are available as single or combined and marketed in dose forms such as tablets, capsules, powders and liquids, soft gels and like this designed to be taken to supplement the diet. Multivitamin-multimineral has no standard or defined meaning. These differences can affect estimates of both prevalence and intakes and make it difficult to compare trends over time. The aim of this paper was to emphasis on the importance of receiving adequate nutrients, along with mentioning the adverse effects of excessive consumption of them

Vitamin D Deficiency is Associated with the Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes

There is convincing evidence that subjects concomitantly affected by type 2 diabetes [T2D] and metabolic syndrome [MeS] are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease [CVD]. Many metabolic derangements in T2D might be attributed to poor vitamin D status. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations among vitamin D status, MeS and glycemic status in subjects with T2D. A total of 101 known cases of T2D [39 males, 62 females] were enrolled in a cross-sectional study by convenient sampling. Serum 25[OH]D3, glycemic markers and lipid profile were assessed. Mean concentration of serum 25[OH]D3 was 42.2 +/- 33.8 nmol/L. Prevalence of undesirable vitamin D status [25[OH]D < 50nmol/L] was significantly higher among the subjects with MeS as compared to those without MeS [p=0.020]. The subjects with sufficient vitamin D status had 50% lower risk for MeS compared to those who had vitamin D deficiency, and this association remained significant even after additional adjustment for body mass index [BMI], percent of fat mass or waist circumference. Our data showed that firstly higher vitamin D status is inversely associated with fasting glycemia, and secondly serum 25[OH]D3 predicts MeS risk in the subjects with T2D. Demonstrating the association of hypovitaminosis D with disorders of glucose metabolism and higher risk for development of further complications, notably CVD, may lead to a new target for preventive efforts at the population level