Vitamin D status is associated with underweight and stunting in children aged 6-36 months residing in the Ecuadorian Andes.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, published as a randomized controlled trial.

There is limited knowledge on vitamin D status of children residing in the Andes and its association with undernutrition.

The researchers evaluated the vitamin D status of children residing in a low socio-economic status (SES) setting in the Ecuadorian Andes and assessed the association between vitamin D status, stunting and underweight.

A sensitivity analysis was undertaken to determine a vitamin D cut-off specific for their endpoints.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as infants and young children, both men and women.

Children had serum 25(OH)D concentrations measured.

Children residing in five low-SES peri-urban neighbourhoods near Quito, Ecuador.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group and the comparison group should start out alike.

The researchers conducted a cross-sectional secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial, the Vitamin A, Zinc and Pneumonia study.

Associations between serum 25(OH)D and underweight (defined as weight-for-age Z-score≤-1) and stunting (defined as height-for-age Z-score≤-2) were assessed using multivariate logistic regression.

Children (n 516) aged 6-36 months.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Cross-Sectional Studies, Ecuador, Growth Disorders, Nutritional Status, Social Class, Thinness and Vitamin D.

Author keywords: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D, Children, Stunting, Undernutrition, Underweight and Vitamin D deficiency.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2018 (Public health nutrition), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.