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

 

May Fouad Nassar (1), Ehab Khairy Emam (1), Mohamed Farouk Allam (2)

1. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

2. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

 

Global Pediatric Health 2021;8:1-7 (First Published May 27, 2021)

DOI: 10.1177/2333794X211018352

 

Abstract

This systematic review/meta-analysis aims to highlight the effect of vitamin D supplementation in deficient children suffering from obesity. 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. Ten studies were retrieved, but only 6 were relevant. First, supplemented obese children and adolescents were compared to non[1]obese controls; thereafter, supplemented obese children and adolescents were compared to matching obese peers given placebo. Pooled risks from the 2 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 6 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. 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.

 

Keywords: adolescents, children, clinical trials, obesity, supplementation, vitamin D.

 

Global Pediatric Health 2021;8:1-7 (First Published May 27, 2021)

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2333794X211018352