ESPE Abstracts

Background: Despite a shining sun all through the year, vitamin D deficiency is still prevalent in Egyptian children which suggests a relative resistance to vitamin D in Egyptian population.

Aim: To assess 25(OH)D status in healthy pre-pubertal Egyptian children and to relate its levels to anthropometric parameters in these children.

Methods: Sixty healthy children aged between 3 and 10 years coming to the Outpatient clinic, Children′s Hospital, Ain- Shams University for minor complaints were randomly recruited in the study. Children having any form of rickets, or any chronic illness, those receiving any medications that might interfere with vitamin D absorption or those receiving calcium and/or vitamin D therapy in the last 6 months prior to study were excluded. All were subjected to history taking, anthropometric measurements and measurement of serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, 25(OH)D and parathyroid hormone.

Results: The median hours of sun exposure per week was 7 hours/week. Forty five cases (90%) had 25(OH)D deficiency, 4 (6.7%) had insufficiency and only 2 (3.3%) had adequate 25(OH)D levels. Vitamin D levels were not affected by the duration of exclusive breast feeding (P=0.617). There was a significant positive correlation between serum 25(OH)D and hours of sun exposure per week and percentage of body exposure to the sun.

Conclusion: Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are common among Egyptian pre-pubertal children which may be due to vitamin D receptor polymorphism.