Vitamin D Status in A Sample of Preschool Children Aged From 1 to 6 Years Visiting the Pediatrics Clinic at Jordan University Hospital

Objectives: vitamin d status was investigated in 200 children (100 males and 100 females) visiting the pediatrics clinic at jordan university hospital.methods: subjects were categorized into two age groups: 1-3 years (toddlers) and 3-6 years (preschool children). data were collected on children’s lifestyle factors, dietary intake, height, weight and bmi.serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d3 (25 (oh) d3) concentration was determined.results: 16.5% of the children had vitamin d deficiency (serum 25 (oh) d3 ≤ 15 ng/ml), while 15.5% had vitamin d insufficiency (serum 25 (oh) d3 from 15 to 20 ng/ml). serum 25 (oh) d3 levels for the toddlers (26.25 ± 1.16) were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of the preschool children (21.49 ±1.16). serum 25 (oh) d3 was significantly higher (p<0.05) for exclusively formula-fed children (27.42 ± 0.86) or children with mixed feeding (26.69 ± 0.92) than for those who were exclusively breast-fed (17.02 ± 0.90). also, serum 25 (oh) d3 levels were positively correlated with the duration of formula feeding (r = 0.4849, p<0.0001), duration of outdoor physical activity (r = 0.3940, p<0.0001), monthly frequency of outdoor physical activity (r = 0.61087, p<0.0001), and vitamin d (r = 0.4678, p<0.0001) and calcium (r =0.4951, p<0.0001) intakes. however, serum 25 (oh) d3 levels were negatively correlated with duration of breast feeding (r = -0.3554, p<0.0001) and bmi (r = -0.4235; p<0.0001).conclusions: it is concluded that hypovitaminosis d is common in preschool children and that lifestyle conditions influence vitamin d status.