Is there a benefit of vitamin D supplementation in deficient children and adolescents suffering from obesity? A meta-analysis

Is there a benefit of vitamin D supplementation in deficient children and adolescents suffering from obesity? A meta-analysis

M F Nassar, E K Emam, M F Allam

QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, Volume 113, Issue Supplement_1, March 2020, hcaa063.001, https://doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcaa063.001

Published: 05 May 2020

Background and objectives. Both childhood obesity and vitamin D deficiency are common in the Middle East. This systematic review/meta-analysis aims to highlight the effect of vitamin D supplementation in deficient children suffering from obesity.

Methods. Published clinical studies on vitamin D supplementation in obese children and adolescents with vitamin D deficiency were identified through a comprehensive MEDLINE/PubMed search (from July 1966 to November 2017). Outcomes intended after vitamin D supplementation were improvements in vitamin D status, BMI alterations and appetite changes. The inclusion criteria were children aged 2 to 18 years of both sexes in clinical trials that specified the oral and/or intramuscular dose of vitamin D supplementation.

Results. Ten studies were retrieved, but only six were relevant. First, supplemented obese children and adolescents were compared to non-obese controls; thereafter, supplemented obese children and adolescents were compared to matching obese peers given placebo. Pooled risks from the two studies that evaluated the number of obese and non-obese children and adolescents who improved upon vitamin D supplementation revealed that obesity poses a risk for not benefiting from the vitamin D supplementation regardless of the dose and the duration of supplementation. Pooled results from the six retrieved studies that compared supplemented obese children and adolescents to matching non-obese or obese peers given placebo revealed significantly lower vitamin D levels in obese participants than in non-obese peers.

Conclusion. Vitamin D levels are significantly lower in obese children and adolescents with obesity, posing a risk for not benefiting from vitamin D supplementation regardless of the dose and duration of supplementation. Our results suggest that only with simultaneous weight adjustment strategies, vitamin D sufficiency would be achieved more effectively.

Vitamin D supplementation in deficient children suffering from obesity.

Keywords: Adolescents, children, clinical trials, obesity, supplementation, vitamin D

Topic: obesity, adolescent, child, vitamin d, childhood obesity

Issue Section: Pediatrics

https://academic.oup.com/qjmed/article-abstract/113/Supplement_1/hcaa063.001/5829038