Vitamin D deficiency is common and is associated with overweight in Mexican children aged 1-11 years.

Objective: To assess vitamin D dietary sources, intake and 25-hydroxyvitamin D status and their association with individual and sociodemographic characteristics in Mexican children. Design: Data obtained from 2695 children aged 1-11 years from the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey (2012) were analysed. Diet was assessed by a 141-item FFQ. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D was measured by a chemiluminescent assay. Results: Mean vitamin D intake was 3.38 (SE 0.09) mu g/d (135.2 (SE 3.6) IU/d) among pre-school children and 2.85 (SE 0.06) mu g/d (114.0 (SE 2.4) IU/d) in school-age children. Milk accounted for 64.4% of vitamin D intake in pre-school children and 54.7% in school-age children. Vitamin D deficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D < 50 nmol/l) was 25.9% in pre-schoolers and 36.6% in school-age children. Overweight/obese school-age children had a higher risk of vitamin D deficiency compared with normal-weight children (OR = 2.23; 95% CI 1.36, 3.66; P < 0.05). Conclusions: Vitamin D intakes are low in Mexican children, and milk is the main source of the vitamin. Vitamin D deficiency is common and associated with overweight in school-age children.