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New study confirms link between vitamin D deficiency and anemia

Category: Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment

A child who receives low vitamin D test results may be more likely to develop anemia, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins Children's Center researchers.

The team reported at the Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies that children with the lowest vitamin D test scores are 50 percent more likely to also be diagnosed with anemia than children with healthy levels of the nutrient. Furthermore, every one nanogram per milliliter increase of blood vitamin D levels resulted in a 3 percent drop in anemia risk.

Furthermore, the researchers uncovered significant disparities between rates of vitamin D deficiency and anemia in white and black children. Only 1 percent of Caucasian youths had anemia, while 9 percent of African Americans did. The researchers said that it has long been known that minorities have higher rates of the two conditions. Their findings confirm that the two may be linked.

"The striking difference between black and white children in vitamin D levels and hemoglobin gives us an interesting clue that definitely calls for a further study," said Meredith Atkinson, who led the study.