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Vitamin D status of Icelandic children and its influence on bone accrual

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Abstract

The importance of vitamin D for children’s bone health has been well established, but the effects of less severe deficiency are not fully known. The main objective of this study was to assess the vitamin D status of Icelandic children at the age of 7, and again at 9 years of age, and the association of vitamin D status with bone mineral content and bone accrual over 2 years. We invited 321 children to participate in this study, and 267 (83 %) took part; 211 (79 %) underwent a DXA scan and 164 were again scanned 2 years later; 159 (60 %) vitamin D samples were measured and 119 (75 %) were measured again 2 years later. At age 7, 65 % of the children had vitamin D concentrations <50 nmol/l, and at age 9 this figure was 60 %. At age 7, 43 % of the children had insufficient amounts of vitamin D (37.5–50 nmol/l), and 22 % had a vitamin D deficiency (<37.5 nmol/l). In linear regression analysis, no association was found between vitamin D and bone mineral content. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in bone accrual over 2 years for the children with insufficient or deficient vitamin D at both ages, compared to those having more than 50 nmol/l at both time points. More than 60 % of Icelandic children have inadequate concentrations of vitamin D in serum repeatedly over a 2-year interval. However, vitamin D in the range did not have a significant effect on bone mineral content or accrual at ages 7 and 9.

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Abbreviations

25(OH)-D:

25-Hydroxyvitamin D

BMC:

Bone mineral content

BMD:

Bone mineral density

LBM:

Lean body mass

TFM:

Total fat mass

PTH:

Parathyroid hormone

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all the participants and their families for giving their time and energy to undergo all the different measurements conducted over the course of this study. This work was supported by The Research Fund of the lcelandic College of Family Physicians, University of Iceland Research Fund, Icelandic Research Fund, and the Technology Development Fund administered by Rannis, the Icelandic Centre for Research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Solvangur Health Care Center, Hafnarfjordur, Iceland

    Haukur Heidar Hauksson & Emil L. Sigurdsson

  2. Seltjarnarnes Health Care Center, Seltjarnarnes, Iceland

    Hannes Hrafnkelsson

  3. Center for Research in Sport and Health Sciences, School of Education, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Hannes Hrafnkelsson, Kristjan Thor Magnusson & Erlingur Johannsson

  4. Department of Family Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Emil L. Sigurdsson

Authors
  1. Haukur Heidar Hauksson
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  2. Hannes Hrafnkelsson
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  3. Kristjan Thor Magnusson
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  4. Erlingur Johannsson
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  5. Emil L. Sigurdsson
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Correspondence to Emil L. Sigurdsson.

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Hauksson, H.H., Hrafnkelsson, H., Magnusson, K.T. et al. Vitamin D status of Icelandic children and its influence on bone accrual. J Bone Miner Metab 34, 580–586 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-015-0704-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00774-015-0704-0

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