A nationally representative study of over 3,000 children indicates that low levels of vitamin D are associated with allergy development in children. The study was published in the February 17 online edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Researchers investigated Vitamin D levels in blood collected from over 3,100 children and adolescents and 3,400 adults between 2005 and 2006. A blood test that measured sensitivity to 17 different types of allergens was conducted. No correlation between vitamin D levels and allergies was found in adults; however, in children and adolescents, correlations between low vitamin D and sensitivity to 11 of the 17 allergens tested were found. Among these were environmental allergens such as dog and ragweed allergies as well as food allergies.
Further, children who had vitamin D deficiencies were found to be 2.4 times more likely to have peanut allergies than children with sufficient vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as having less than 15 nanograms of the vitamin per milliliter of blood whereas sufficient vitamin D was defined as having more than 30 nanograms of the vitamin per milliliter of blood.
Researchers emphasize these discoveries only indicate correlation, not causation between vitamin D deficiency and allergies in children. However, senior author of the study, Michal Melamed, still stresses the importance of children consuming adequate amounts of vitamin D.
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