Vitamin D Deficiency and Low Bone Mineral Content in Children

Overview

The Vitamin D study is designed to investigate the effect of body fat mass on vitamin D levels in children. Earlier studies have shown that individuals with increased fat mass may have low vitamin D levels. Our specific hypothesis states that children with increased fat mass will have lower blood levels of vitamin D when compared to non-obese children.Since vitamin D is the primary hormone for bone mineralization in humans, low levels of vitamin D could lead to decreased bone mineral content in these children.

Fifty prepubertal male and female children of ages between 3-12 years will participate in this study. Of these, 25 obese children will be enrolled in the study group, and 25 non-obese children will serve as controls. All subjects will fill out a comprehensive mineral intake questionnaire as part of the study to ensure adequate calcium intake prior to the study. All subjects will collect a first morning urine sample for calcium, creatinine, and NTX. Fasting blood samples will be drawn for the following analytes: 25-hydroxyvitamin D, 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D, intact PTH, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, osteocalcin, insulin, c-peptide, fasting blood glucose, leptin, and adiponectin. Bone Mineral Content will be evaluated in 16 obese subjects with vitamin D level of \< 30 nmol/L.

Conditions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes