A study debunks a common myth about vitamin D

A scientific study revealed that vitamin D supplements do not improve bone strength or reduce the risk of fractures in children with vitamin D deficiency.

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology magazine indicates that scientists at Queen Mary University of London, in cooperation with scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health, reached these conclusions, from the results of a study in which more than 8,000 students aged 6-13 years living in Mongolia, which suffers greatly from Especially for high rates of fractures and widespread vitamin D deficiency, to take vitamin D supplements for three years. It turned out that 95.5 percent of them at the beginning of the study were suffering from vitamin D deficiency.

After the scheduled period ended, the researchers updated some of the participants' health data and evaluated their bone strength using ultrasound. It turns out that taking nutritional supplements had no effect on bone strength in children and adolescents or on the risk of fractures. But during this three-year trial, the deficiency of this vitamin was eliminated in all participants.

The researchers believe the lack of benefit may be because the participants did not take calcium at the same time as vitamin D.

The researchers point out that children who were diagnosed with rickets during examination were excluded from participating in the study, because providing them with a placebo was unethical. Therefore, the results only apply to children with low vitamin D levels who did not develop complications.