Vitamin-D status among Egyptian children and adolescents: can we predict vitamin-D deficiency?

Background and aim Vitamin D is essential for growth, development, and health. It works as a paracrine and autocrine signaling molecule that affects nearly all systems in the body. Vitamin-D deficiency (VDD) may be overlooked due to the variable clinical presentations. This study was conducted to assess vitamin-D status among children and adolescents, and to find out predictors for its deficiency/insufficiency among the studied groups. Patients and methods A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 88 patients (47 children and 41 adolescents). All participants were subjected to history, clinical examination, and estimation of serum vitamin D, alkaline phosphatase, calcium, and phosphorous levels. The patients were divided into four groups according to serum vitamin-D level: severely deficient less than 10 ng/ml, deficient 10–less than 20 ng/ml, insufficient 20–30 ng/ml, and sufficient vitamin D more than 30 ng/ml. Results VDD was prevalent in the studied group, where 58% of them showed VDD and 25% showed insufficiency. Children showed 8.6% severe deficiency, 46.8% deficiency, and 31.9% insufficiencies. The adolescents showed 21.1% severe deficiency, 48.8% deficiency, and 17.7% insufficiency. Muscle cramps were significant among children only. Multivariable linear-regression analysis revealed that BMI (P=0.01) and fast food (P=0.016) were associated with the increased risk of deficiency. Conclusions VDD and insufficiency are prevalent in Egyptian children and adolescents among both sexes. The severity of deficiency is associated with muscle cramps. Vitamin-D status was affected by increased BMI and fast-food intake.