Low serum vitamin D in US adolescents strongly associated with hypertension, hyperglycaemia, and metabolic syndrome

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine whether low serum vitamin D levels (25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]) were associated with cardiovascular risk factors in 3577 fasting, non-pregnant, nondiabetic adolescents having participated in the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Low 25(OH)D levels were strongly associated with ethnicity, overweight and abdominal obesity. Mean 25(OH)D was 24.8 ng/mL, and lowest in Afro-American, intermediate in Mexican-American, and highest in Caucasian adolescents. After adjusting for confounding factors, 25(OH)D levels were inversely associated with systolic blood pressure and fasting glucose concentrations. The adjusted odds ratios for those in the lowest compared with those in the highest quartile of 25(OH)D were 2.36 for hypertension, 2.54 for fasting hyperglycaemia, 1.54 for low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 1.00 for hypertriglyceridaemia, and 3.88 for metabolic syndrome (age-modified ATP III definition). Thus, low serum vitamin D in US adolescents is strongly associated with hypertension, hyperglycaemia, and metabolic syndrome, independently of adiposity.

Abstract

Keywords:
Abdominal obesity – HDL cholesterol – Hypertension – Hypertriglyceridaemia – NCEP ATP III definition – Overweight – Plasma glucose