ArticleBMC medicine2021
Prevalence and predictors of vitamin D deficiency in young African children.
Article in BMC medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Modifiable Nutritional Biomarkers in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Vitamin D, BInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Cohort profile: the Entebbe Mother and Baby Study (EMaBS).BMJ open · 2026Trial
- Article
- Two-phase linear relationship of Vitamin D and Vitamin A among children aged 0-14 years: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Assessment of vitamin D nutritional status among adults in Lu'an, China, based on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D measured by LC-MS/MS.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Vitamin D binding protein rs7041 and rs4588 gene polymorphisms in Ugandan tuberculosis patients and household contacts: A pilot study.F1000Research · 2025Article
- Article
- Association between Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations and Academic Performance among Adolescent Schoolchildren: A Cross-Sectional Study.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Variation in vitamin D status in infants and children: a two-year cross-sectional study in Shanghai, China.BMC pediatrics · 2023Article
- Vitamin D status among infants and children in Shanghai, China: A hospital-based study.Food science & nutrition · 2023Article
- Article
- Assessment of Vitamin D status and association with inflammation: Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia (BRINDA) project.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2023Article
- Correlation analysis between vitamin A, D, and E status with altitude, seasonal variation, and other factors, among children aged 0-6 years in a Chinese population living in the Tibetan plateau of Ganzi prefecture.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2022Article
- Article
- Mineral bone disorders and kidney disease in hospitalized children with sickle cell anemia.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Article
- Analysis of the relationship between malaria and inflammatory biomarker levels in children in rural Iraq: Impact of nutritional deficiencies, anemia, and hematological disorders.Tropical parasitologyArticle
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 10 institutions in 8 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundChildren living in sub-Saharan Africa have a high burden of rickets and infectious diseases, conditions that are linked to vitamin D deficiency. However, data on the vitamin D status of young African children and its environmental and genetic predictors are limited. We aimed to examine the prevalence and predictors of vitamin D deficiency in young African children.
methodsWe measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and typed the single nucleotide polymorphisms, rs4588 and rs7041, in the GC gene encoding the vitamin D binding protein (DBP) in 4509 children aged 0-8 years living in Kenya, Uganda, Burkina Faso, The Gambia and South Africa. We evaluated associations between vitamin D status and country, age, sex, season, anthropometric indices, inflammation, malaria and DBP haplotypes in regression analyses.
resultsMedian age was 23.9 months (interquartile range [IQR] 12.3, 35.9). Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency using 25(OH)D cut-offs of < 30 nmol/L and < 50 nmol/L was 0.6% (95% CI 0.4, 0.9) and 7.8% (95% CI 7.0, 8.5), respectively. Overall median 25(OH)D level was 77.6 nmol/L (IQR 63.6, 94.2). 25(OH)D levels were lower in South Africa, in older children, during winter or the long rains, and in those with afebrile malaria, and higher in children with inflammation. 25(OH)D levels did not vary by stunting, wasting or underweight in adjusted regression models. The distribution of Gc variants was Gc1f 83.3%, Gc1s 8.5% and Gc2 8.2% overall and varied by country. Individuals carrying the Gc2 variant had lower median 25(OH)D levels (72.4 nmol/L (IQR 59.4, 86.5) than those carrying the Gc1f (77.3 nmol/L (IQR 63.5, 92.8)) or Gc1s (78.9 nmol/L (IQR 63.8, 95.5)) variants.
conclusionsApproximately 0.6% and 7.8% of young African children were vitamin D deficient as defined by 25(OH)D levels < 30 nmol/L and < 50 nmol/L, respectively. Latitude, age, season, and prevalence of inflammation and malaria should be considered in strategies to assess and manage vitamin D deficiency in young children living in Africa.
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