Vitamin D and Linear Growth in a Sample of Egyptian Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a common health problem worldwide. Decreased appreciation of the importance of sun exposure to provide children and adults with vitamin D requirement led to a pandemic of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency may exert a negative influence on bone development causing not only rickets, but also interfering with achieving genetically programmed height. Objective: To assess vitamin D status among healthy Egyptian adolescents and its relation to height percentile. Patients and Methods: Our study was conducted on 180 healthy adolescent males and females aged 10-19 years. Exclusion criteria included subjects with chronic systemic diseases and those with height that is 2 standard deviation (SD) below the mean age. All participants were subjected to detailed history including sun exposure, dietary pattern, socioeconomic status, physical and anthropometric evaluation, laboratory investigations including: hemoglobin concentration, serum creatinine, serum albumin, corrected serum total calcium, serum phosphorus and serum 25 hydroxy-vitamin D level. Results: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 142 out of 180 (78.9 %) which was significantly higher among females. On comparing vitamin D status groups as regard stature for age percentile we found non-significant statistical difference (p=0.394), however there was a positive significant correlation between vitamin D level and stature for age percentile (p=0.019). Conclusion: Subclinical vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are common problems in apparently healthy Egyptian adolescents with negative impact on height percentile.