Vitamin D Deficiency in Middle Childhood Is Related to Behavior Problems in Adolescence
August 25th, 2019Via: PsychCentral:
Vitamin D deficiency in childhood may be associated with a greater risk for aggressive behavior and anxious and depressive moods in adolescence, according to a new University of Michigan (U-M) study of schoolchildren in Bogotá, Colombia.
The findings, published in the Journal of Nutrition, show that children with blood vitamin D levels suggestive of deficiency were almost twice as likely to develop externalizing behavior problems — aggressive and rule-breaking behaviors — as reported by their parents, compared with children who had higher levels of the vitamin.
Also, low levels of the protein that transports vitamin D in blood were related to more self-reported aggressive behavior and anxious/depressed symptoms. The associations were independent of child, parental and household characteristics.
“Children who have vitamin D deficiency during their elementary school years appear to have higher scores on tests that measure behavior problems when they reach adolescence,” said Dr. Eduardo Villamor, professor of epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health and senior author of the study.
Villamor notes that vitamin D deficiency has been linked to other mental health problems in adulthood, including depression and schizophrenia, and some studies have focused on the effect of vitamin D status during pregnancy and childhood. However, few studies have extended into adolescence, the stage when behavior problems may first appear and become serious conditions.
