Vitamin-D status and neurodevelopment and growth in young north Indian children: a secondary data analysis

Abstract

Background: Vitamin-D deficiency has been linked with impaired development in animal studies; however, the evidence from human studies is scanty. Evidence as to whether vitamin-D deficiency during early childhood affects growth is also limited and conflicting. We examined the extent to which vitamin-D deficiency (<10 ng/ml) is associated with neurodevelopment and physical growth in young children.

Methods: We used data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of daily folic acid and/ or vitamin B12 supplementation for six months in children aged 6 to 30 months conducted in Delhi, India. We measured vitamin-D status and neurodevelopment by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3 (ASQ-3) at 12 to 36 months of age. Multiple logistic and linear regressions were used to examine the association between vitamin-D deficiency at baseline and neurodevelopment and growth 6 months follow-up.

Results: 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D (25OHD) concentration was measured at baseline for 960 (96%) children. Of these, 331 (34.5%) children were vitamin-D deficient. The total and subscale (except for the Personal social scale) ASQ-3 scores, were not different between the vitamin-D deficient and non-deficient children. Vitamin-D deficiency was also not associated with physical growth at baseline and at follow -up.

Conclusion: Our data do not support the hypothesis that vitamin-D deficiency is associated with poor growth and neurodevelopment.

Trial registration: NCT00717730 and CTRI/2010/091/001090 . Date of registration: 08 October, 2010.

Keywords: ASQ-3; Neurodevelopment; Physical growth; Vitamin-D; Young north Indian children.

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was conducted according the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki. All procedures were approved by the Ethics committees of the Society for Applied Studies, New Delhi, Christian Medical College Vellore and Norwegian Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REK VEST). The consent form for the main trial also sought permission from parents to store participating children’s blood specimen for use in future research. All parents consented for the same.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1

Associations between vitamin-D level at baseline and HAZ score at baseline. The graphs were constructed using generalized additive models in R, the solid line depicts the association of vitamin-D level at baseline and HAZ score at baseline. The shaded area spans the 95% confidence interval of this association

Fig. 2

Associations between vitamin-D level at baseline and total ASQ-3 score after 6 months of follow up. The graphs were constructed using generalized additive models in R, the solid line depicts the association of vitamin-D level at baseline and total ASQ-3 score. The shaded area spans the 95% confidence interval of this association