Determination of vitamin D levels in healthy children aged 1-2 years

Purpose: The importance of vitamin D in calcium homeostasis and bone health is well known. In addition, its deficiency and insufficiency are also reported to be associated with many chronic diseases, including common malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, infectious and autoimmune diseases. Although there are many studies on the determination of serum vitamin D levels in children in our country, there is no specific study covering the 1-2 age group. The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency, and to determine whether the vitamin D supplementation provided to children aged 0-1 should continue after 1 year of age. Methods: A total of 200 children, 97 girls and 103 boys, aged 1-2 years, healthy, without known chronic diseases, who applied to the Pediatrics Outpatient Clinic of Bezmialem University Medical Faculty Hospital between May 1, 2022 and July 1, 2022 were included in the study. Serum 25 (OH) D, parathormone, alkaline phosphatase, calcium and phosphorus levels were studied from the blood taken from the children for routine examinations. Vitamin D level below 11 ng/mL was defined as deficiency, between 11-20 ng/mL as insufficiency, and above 20 ng/mL as normal. Results: The mean vitamin D level of the children was found to be 28.9 ± 13.2 ng/ml. The lowest vitamin D value was found to be 9.1 ng/ml, while the highest value was 145 ng/ml. The rate of vitamin D deficiency was 1.5%, the rate of vitamin D insufficiency was 19.5%, the rate of normal vitamin D was 71.5%, and the rate of high vitamin D levels was 2.5%. A significant negative correlation was observed between age and calcium (r = -0.265) and phosphorus (r= -0.460) levels (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In our study, the detection of vitamin D deficiency in one out of every 5 children between the ages of 1-2 indicates that vitamin D prophylaxis should be continued after 1 year of age. Key words: Vitamin D deficiency, 1-2 years old children, vitamin D prophylaxis