Authors

Maryam Bemanalizadeh, Motahar Heidari-Beni, Hanieh-Sadat Ejtahed, Ramin Heshmat, Fereshteh Baygi, Ehsan Seif, Armita Mahdavi-Gorab, Amir Kasaeian, Majid Khademian, Mostafa Qorbani & Roya Kelishadi

Affiliations

Department of Pediatrics, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

1 Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
2 Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
3 Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Physiology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Background

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations reflect vitamin D status, with deficiency implicated as an underlying factor for many adverse health effects. This study aims to analyze the association between vitamin D status and different anthropometric measures in a large pediatric population.

Methods

This nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 in blood samples obtained from school students of 30 provinces in Iran. Participants were 2596 children and adolescents aged 7–18 years. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), neck circumference (NC), and wrist circumference (WrC) were measured. Body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (W/HtR) were calculated. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured using chemiluminescent immunoassay.

Results

Participants consisted of 55% boys, 71.3% urban inhabitants, with a mean (SD) age of 12.1 (3.0) years. Overall, vitamin D deficiency was documented in 10.6% of participants, insufficiency in 60.4%, and sufficiency in 29% of the population studied. The mean of BMI and WC was higher in the vitamin D deficient than in the vitamin D sufficient group (19.31 kg/m2 and 69.24 cm vs. 18.34 kg/m2 and 65.73 cm, respectively, P < 0.01). Multivariate linear regression models revealed a significant association of vitamin D insufficiency with WC and W/HtR (P < 0.05). Likewise, in the multivariate regression models, vitamin D deficiency was associated with BMI, WC, and W/HtR (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Our findings on the inverse association between vitamin D status and some anthropometric measures underscore the importance of providing vitamin D by fortification and supplementation programs of vitamin D for the pediatric population.