Vitamin D reduces fracture risk in children

Fractures are part of growing up: about a third of children break a bone before they reach 17 years of age. Now new research suggests that vitamin D supplements may protect against fractures.

Researchers from Canada compared 206 healthy children less than 6 years of age who broke a bone and 343 matched controls. The average age was 43 months and 56% were male. Infants who broke a bone were significantly more likely to have darker skin and a history of fracture than controls. So, the authors adjusted for potential confounders such as skin type, fracture history, waist size, time spent playing outdoors and birth weight. Neither serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration, which accurately measures vitamin D levels in the body, (mean 88.5 and 91.6 nmol/L in cases and controls respectively) nor intake of cow’s milk seemed to protect against fracture.