WEDNESDAY, June 9, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- Many adolescents living in American cities have low levels of vitamin D, which is crucial for calcium absorption and bone growth.
Researchers examined vitamin D deficiency among 307 healthy urban adolescents, aged 11 to 18, who had blood tests and nutrition and activity assessments.
The study found that 74 (24.1 percent) of the adolescents were vitamin D deficient. Of those, 14 (4.6 percent of the total) were severely vitamin D deficient. The study also found that 129 (42 percent) of the adolescents were vitamin D insufficient.
Ethnicity, milk and juice consumption, time of the year, body mass index and physical activity were significant predictors of vitamin D insufficiency.
"Vitamin D deficiency was present in many U.S. adolescents in this urban clinic-based sample. 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 wrote.
The study appears in the June issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
More information
The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more about vitamin D.
