(P07-060-23) Vitamin D Deficiency Is Widespread in Healthy Children With Low Calcium Intake From South Florida

Objectives: Vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL) is common in the US, with a prevalence of 20% in children. Currently, universal screening for vitamin D in healthy children is not recommended and as such, a deficiency often gets unnoticed. Persistent vitamin D deficit in childhood alters bone health, increasing rickets, fractures, and early onset osteoporosis risk. There is very limited research on vitamin D deficiency in the south of the US, where sun exposure is common. Therefore, we assessed the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in healthy children in Florida.

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis comprised data from 9-14 years old healthy children with low calcium intake ( < 2 servings/d of dairy) from the ongoing MetA-Bone Trial baseline visit. Socio-demographics were gathered through a questionnaire, diet was assessed from 24-hr recalls (NDSR), bone mineral content (BMC) was determined with a DXA (Hologic), BMI percentiles were calculated, and serum 25OHD levels were determined by immunoassay (commercial lab). Analyses included descriptive statistics (means and SD) and independent sample t-test.

Results: Preliminary results in 100 children (12.2±1.4 years; 73% Hispanics, and 11.2% overweight (BMI >85th percentile) showed that 25% were deficient (mean serum 25(OH)D level was 25.3±8.0 ng/mL). Boys had higher vitamin D levels than girls (27.7+7.1 vs 22.8+8.26; p< 0.05) and Black (22.3+8.45, p 0.054) and multiracial children had significant lower levels (24.3+7.4, p 0.047) than white children (25.3+8.0). Children with vitamin D deficiency had similar vitamin D intake or BMC compared with children with adequate vitamin D status.

Conclusions: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was very high in Hispanic children in South Florida, even higher than reported in NHANES. Even if BMC was similar by vitamin D status, prolonged deficiency, especially among girls and minority racial groups, could affect bone mass acquisition through puberty. Therefore, regular vitamin D screening during growth spurts should be considered to protect bone mass acquisition.

Funding Sources: National Institutes of Health (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NICHD)