Large clinical study finds that taking vitamin D does not improve bone strength

Scientists conducted a large clinical study that found that regular vitamin D supplementation did not improve bone strength or reduce the risk of bone fractures in children with vitamin D deficiency. The study published in the journal Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

Queen Mary University of London and Harvard School of Public Health T. H. Chan conducted a study with schoolchildren from Mongolia, since vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in this country and bone fractures are common. This study is the largest randomized controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation ever conducted in children.

Over three years, 8,851 schoolchildren aged 6–13 years living in Mongolia received weekly oral vitamin D or a placebo. 95.5% of participants were vitamin D deficient. Supplementation helped raise vitamin D levels to normal but had no effect on fracture risk or bone strength, which was measured in 1,438 participants using quantitative ultrasound.

“Strikingly, with long-term, adequate vitamin D supplementation there was no effect on fracture risk or bone strength in children with vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D supplementation and calcium supplementation helped adults prevent fractures, but because we did not offer calcium to study participants together with vitamin D, this explains the null results of the study,” said Dr. Ganmaa Davaasambuu, assistant professor at the Harvard T.H. School of Public Health. T. H. Chan.

“It is also important to note that children who were found to have rickets during screening in the study were excluded from participation because it would have been unethical to offer them a placebo (pacifier). Thus, our results are only relevant for children with low vitamin D levels who did not develop bone complications. The importance of adequate vitamin D intake to prevent rickets should not be ignored, and the UK government guidelines recommending a daily intake of 400 IU of vitamin D remain important and should still be followed,” added Professor Adrian Martineau, Head of the Center for Immunobiology, Queen Mary University of London.

Vitamin D has also been found to have other benefits. Researchers at the University of South Australia (NCUK) studied biomaterial from 307 thousand people with low levels of vitamin D in their bodies for 14 years. Those who did not struggle with the deficiency of this trace element were more likely to suffer from respiratory diseases and die earlier. Therefore, it is important to engage in prevention, which in the case of vitamin D is available to almost everyone, for example, walking more in sunny weather.