Vitamin D supplementation may decrease the risk for diabetes in obese children and adolescents, according to a recently published study.
Researchers from the University of Missouri recruited 35 prediabetic obese patients from the University of Missouri Adolescent Diabetes and Obesity Clinic. All of the participants had vitamin D deficiency and similar diet and exercise habits. The participants were randomly assigned to receive 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day or a placebo for 6 months, and measurements were taken at the beginning of the study and at two follow-up visits.
The researchers found that the group receiving the supplement became vitamin D sufficient and lowered the amount of insulin in their blood compared with the control group.
“The correction of poor vitamin D status through dietary supplementation may be an effective addition to the standard treatment of obesity and its associated insulin resistance,” the authors wrote in the study abstract.
For more information:
Belenchia AM. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013; doi:10.3945/ajcn.112.050013.
