Vitamin D Levels Low in Teens

Vitamin D deficiency is most common in the winter and spring and in individuals with increased skin pigmentation. Recent findings report that many US teenagers may suffer from such vitamin D deficiency.

The study, published in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (2004, vol. 158, no. 6), investigated whether healthy adolescents are deficient in vitamin D. Researchers from Children’s Hospital in Boston conducted a study of 307 adolescents recruited at an annual physical examination. Nutritional intake and physical activity assessments and blood samples were obtained from the participants.

Researchers found that the 24 percent of the participants were deficient in vitamin D, with 4.6 percent being severely deficient. Findings also revealed that 42 percent of participants were vitamin D deficient when a broader definition was used. "The prevalence was highest in African American teenagers and during winter, although the problem seems to be common across sex, season, and ethnicity," the study authors conclude.