Vitamin D status is associated with cardiometabolic markers in 8–11-year-old children, independently of body fat and physical activity

Abstract

Vitamin D status has been associated with cardiometabolic markers even in children, but the associations may be confounded by fat mass and physical activity behaviour. This study investigated associations between vitamin D status and cardiometabolic risk profile, as well as the impact of fat mass and physical activity in Danish 8-11-year-old children, using baseline data from 782 children participating in the Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet (OPUS) School Meal Study. We assessed vitamin D status as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and measured blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, homoeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance, plasma lipids, inflammatory markers, anthropometry and fat mass by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and physical activity by 7 d accelerometry during August-November. Mean serum 25(OH)D was 60·8 (sd 18·7) nmol/l. Each 10 mmol/l 25(OH)D increase was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure (-0·3 mmHg, 95 % CI -0·6, -0·0) (P=0·02), total cholesterol (-0·07 mmol/l, 95 % CI -0·10, -0·05), LDL-cholesterol (-0·05 mmol/l, 95 % CI -0·08, -0·03), TAG (-0·02 mmol/l, 95 % CI -0·03, -0·01) (P≤0·001 for all lipids) and lower metabolic syndrome (MetS) score (P=0·01). Adjustment for fat mass index did not change the associations, but the association with blood pressure became borderline significant after adjustment for physical activity (P=0·06). In conclusion, vitamin D status was negatively associated with blood pressure, plasma lipids and a MetS score in Danish school children with low prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, and apart from blood pressure the associations were independent of body fat and physical activity. The potential underlying cause-effect relationship and possible long-term implications should be investigated in randomised controlled trials.

Physical activity, diet and other behavioural interventions for improving cognition and school achievement in children and adolescents with obesity or overweight

“…Five studies had a higher proportion of female participants in the intervention compared to the control group: Ahamed 2007 (48% versus 19%); Damsgaard 2017 [pers comm] (72% versus 59%); Gallotta 2015 (52% versus 36% ); Krafft 2014 (71% versus 58%); and Melnyk 2013 (54% versus 48%). A higher proportion of girls in the control group was evident in six studies: Chen 2016 (36% versus 52%); Davis 2011b (54% versus 62%); De Greeff 2016 (52% versus 69%); Huang 2015 (53% versus 59%); Johnston 2013 (38% versus 46%); and Winter 2011 (25% versus 37%).…”

“…We included five RCTs (Chen 2016; Davis 2011b; Huang 2015; Krafft 2014; Staiano 2012) and 13 cluster-RCTs (Ahamed 2007; Barbosa Filho 2017 [pers comm]; Damsgaard 2017 [pers comm]; De Greeff 2016; Gallotta 2015; Johnston 2013; Melnyk 2013; Nanney 2016; Resaland 2016; Sánchez-López 2017 [pers comm]; Treu 2017; Winter 2011; Wirt 2013 [pers comm]). Of the 18 studies, eight were conducted in the USA, two in Denmark, and one each in Canada, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Norway, The Netherlands, Germany and Taiwan.…”

“…Two studies were carried out in children attending preschool, with age ranges of three to five years (Winter 2011) and four to seven years (Sánchez-López 2017 [pers comm]). Eleven studies were conducted in primary/elementary school-aged children (six to 13 years) (Ahamed 2007; Damsgaard 2017 [pers comm]; Davis 2011b; De Greeff 2016; Gallotta 2015; Huang 2015; Johnston 2013; Krafft 2014; Resaland 2016; Treu 2017; Wirt 2013 [pers comm]).…”

“…Where data were obtainable, ethnic majorities in the study populations were African-American (Davis 2011b; Krafft 2014; Staiano 2012), Hispanic (Johnston 2013; Melnyk 2013; Winter 2011), Asian (Chen 2016), South European (Sánchez-López 2017 [pers comm]), South-East European (Wirt 2013 [pers comm]), and North European (Damsgaard 2017 [pers comm]; Huang 2015; Resaland 2016). In Nanney 2016 and Treu 2017, most participants were of white European ethnic origin.…”

Vitamin D in adolescence: evidence-based dietary requirements and implications for public health policy

“…adolescence on these health outcomes in the short-and long-term (53) . inversely associated with total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations (54,55) , 161 glucose (56,57) and systolic blood pressure (54,56,58,59) and positively correlated with high-density 162 lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (23,57,59) , although not consistently (60,61) . Furthermore, vitamin D 163 status below 50 nmol/l has been associated with an increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome in 164 12-19 year old adolescents in the United States (56,58) , however no association was found in 13 year…”