Study finds that overweight kids may need a vitamin D boost
A new study published December 24 reveals that overweight and obese children and teens are more likely to be deficient in vitamin D than kids who are at a healthy weight.
Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study by researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center analyzed data from more than 12,000 kids aged six to 18.
About 21 percent of kids with healthy weights were vitamin D deficient but nearly 50 percent of those who were severely obese were deficient in the mineral. Overweight children were 29 percent deficient in vitamin D, while obese children were 34 percent deficient.
A study published last year found that obese teenagers need significantly more vitamin D than their leaner counterparts. Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia suggest that teenagers who are obese need a daily dose of at least 4,000 IUs (International Units) to meet dietary requirements -- that's nearly seven times more than the current daily recommended intake of 600 IUs, as set out in guidelines by the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences.
Obese adolescents absorb vitamin D in their fat stores, preventing it from being utilized in the blood, and are about half as efficient as their leaner counterparts at metabolizing its benefits, researchers explain.
The best way around the problem? If your child is overweight or obese, talk to doctor about a test for checking vitamin D levels. Also, serve low-fat milk, advises study researcher Christy Turer, MD, a pediatrician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Children's Medical Center in Dallas. And be sure your child moves away from the television and gets outside to play -- since the sun is one of the main sources of vitamin D.
Access the new study: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/12/19/peds.2012-1711
