Vitamin D may not boost calcium absorption in children

August 12, 2009 in Nutrition for Children and Teenagers, Nutrition Topics in the News, Vitamins, Minerals, Supplements

Vitamin D may not boost calcium absorption in children
Although increased intake of vitamin D may boost calcium absorption in adults, there appears to be no such clear association in children, say Texas researchers.

In this new study, a team of researchers at the US Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston studied vitamin D levels and calcium absorption in 251 healthy children aged 5 to 16. They recorded 439 vitamin D measurements taken over a period of 15 years.

Overall, vitamin D was significantly associated with the total amount of calcium absorbed.

However, in pre- or late puberty this relationship was no longer significant leading researchers to conclude that the overall effect of vitamin D levels on calcium absorption is small.

In children, there is a complex relationship between the level of vitamin D in the blood and how much calcium is absorbed with no simple answer as to how much vitamin D will lead to the most amount of absorbed calcium, report the scientists in the Journal of Clinical and Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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