Children and teenagers with type 1 diabetes may have a particularly high rate of deficiency in bone-building vitamin D, a small study suggests.
The findings, say researchers, underscore the importance of adequate vitamin D intake for children with type 1 diabetes -- who, studies suggest, are already at particular risk for bone loss as they grow older.
Among 128 children and teens with the disease, three-quarters had inadequate levels of vitamin D in their blood. Sixty-one percent had insufficient levels of the vitamin, while 15 percent had an outright deficiency.
"To our surprise, we found extremely high rates of vitamin D inadequacy," senior researcher Dr. Lori Laffel, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a written statement. "We didn't expect to find that only 24 percent of the study population would have adequate levels."
Writing in the Journal of Pediatrics, the investigators say the findings suggest that low vitamin D levels may be a particular problem for children with type 1 diabetes.
"All children should get ample vitamin D, at least 400 IU daily, from some combination of sun exposure, dairy products, and/or supplements," says Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. "Those at high risk of deficiency, but not all children, should have levels monitored."