ABSTRACT
Background. SarsCov2 infection began to spread worldwide since December 2019 and, on March 2020, the World Health Organization characterized its related disease, named COVID-19, as a pandemic. In Italy, to contain the spread of infection a severe lockdown from March 10th, 2020 to May 4th, 2020 was instituted. Other less severe restrictions were imposed in the winter 2020- 2021 and in the spring 2021. The containment measures caused a series of consequences for the population and, in particular, for children and adolescents that presented several psychophysical problems. Aim(s): This study aims to investigate the serum levels of vitamin D in children and adolescent before, during and after the lockdown consequent to COVID-19 pandemic. Material(s) and Method(s): This is a retrospective cross-sectional study, including all children and adolescents between 1 to 18 years referring to the Pediatric Endocrinology Service of the University Hospital of Verona, Italy, between January 2019 and December 2021. All patients affected by clinical conditions that involve vitamin D metabolism or assuming vitamin D supplementation were excluded. Result(s): In total, 490 children (36.7% males and 63.3% females) were enrolled in this study. The vitamin D levels decreased over time: 28.2 +/- 10.2 ng/mL in 2019;28.2 +/- 11.4 ng/mL in 2020 and 24.9 +/- 10.1 ng/mL in 2021 (p<0.05). The vitamin D levels are significant higher in summer and in autumn in comparison with the levels of winter and spring, regardless of the examined years. Conclusion(s): Our data showed that the measures adopted to contain the covid-19 pandemic led to a reduction of serum levels of vitamin D in pediatric population, probably due to the reduced solar exposure. This may have severe consequences on the bone metabolism of those children who did not present optimal vitamin D levels even before the lockdown. Therefore, an adequate supplementation of vitamin D is necessary at least during the winter period in children living in Northern Italy.