Vitamin D Deficiency Puts 40% of U.S. Infants and Toddlers At Risk

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Previously, Gordon and her colleagues studied vitamin D levels in adolescents and found very high levels -- about 42 percent -- of vitamin D deficiency in teens. That finding made them interested in assessing levels in younger children.

The current study included 380 children between 8 and 24 months old. About 80 percent were from urban areas, and the majority of the youngsters were black or Hispanic, according to the study. However, the study made no association between skin pigmentation and vitamin D levels.

For this study, the researchers defined severe vitamin D deficiency as blood levels of less than 8 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), vitamin D deficiency as less than 20 ng/mL and suboptimal as less than 30 ng/mL. Gordon said there is some debate within the medical community about what truly signifies vitamin D deficiency, but that they felt current evidence supports the levels they used, and less than 20 ng/mL is the level her hospital uses as a cut-off point.

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In an accompanying editorial, Dr. James Taylor, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, said that although he believed the study was well done, Gordon and her colleagues used a "higher cut-off" than what has been used by other researchers.

But, he added, because Gordon's team found X-ray evidence of low bone density in children who fell into their category of low levels of vitamin D, "it might be that this might be an indication of long-term problems. If this is the case, then Gordon and colleagues might have picked the right definition. However, it might be that for many of the children with osteopenia [low bone density], the changes are transient and not indicative of disease. Time and more research will tell."

The key findings from the study, according to Gordon are:

• Breast-feeding without vitamin D supplementation is a risk factor for vitamin D deficiency.
• A higher body- mass index was associated with a risk of vitamin D deficiency.
• There was no association between the seasons -- an indication of possible sun exposure -- and vitamin D deficiency.
• There was no association between skin pigmentation and vitamin D deficiency.
• Consumption of vitamin D-fortified milk confers protection against deficiency.

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