Vitamin D status in internationally adopted children: the northwest Italy experience.

Autor: Raffaldi, Irene; Garazzino, Silvia; Ballardini, Giuseppina; Zaffaroni, Mauro; Grasso, Nicolino; Bona, Gianni; Tovo, Pier-Angelo; Guala, Andrea

Publication year: 2023

Minerva pediatrics

issn:2724-5780

doi: 10.23736/S2724-5276.17.04883-6

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The majority of internationally adopted children, before adoption, might have experienced malnutrition, exposure to infectious diseases, environmental deprivation, and neglect; they could also develop medical problems such as vitamin D deficiency. Scantly data are available about vitamin D status in internationally adopted children and, to our knowledge, no report exists on Italian adoptees. METHODS: We carried out a prospective multicenter study, involving three Pediatric Centers in Piedmont, Italy, to collect information about 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) profile in adoptees, shortly after their arrival in Italy. RESULTS: In 142/158 internationally adopted children 25(OH)D was measured: 75 males and 67 females, with a mean age of 4.22±2.2 years. Fifty-three (37.3%) of them came from Asia, 48 (33.8%) from Africa, 24 (16.9%) from Eastern Europe, and 17 (12%) from Latin America. The median level of 25(OH)D in serum was 21.5 ng/mL (IQR range 14.3-29.7 ng/mL): 26 (18.2%) of the examined children had an insufficiency of 25-OHD, whereas 36 (25.2%) had a deficiency. Adoptees with longer time of institution stay had a significant risk to develop 25(OH)D deficiency. The Asian origin proved to be a risk factor to develop 25(OH)D deficiency, whereas the age >1 year was significantly associated with 25(OH)D insufficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Our survey showed that vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency, in internationally adoptees, are frequent and relevant health problems.

Language: eng

Rights:

Pmid: 28922908

Tags: Humans; Female; Male; Prospective Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Vitamin D; *Child, Adopted; *Vitamin D Deficiency/epidemiology; Italy/epidemiology; Vitamins

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28922908/