To address these limitations, she calls for larger, placebo-controlled studies to investigate the long-term effects of vitamin D supplementation.
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Despite the contrary mushrooming of evidence that supports vitamin D intake – from natural sunlight, food or nutritional supplements – giving especially an obese teenager extra vitamin D pills elevate his or her cholesterol and fat-storing triglycerides levels.
In a new study, researchers have suggested that prescribing overweight teens with Vitamin D could lead to health complications. “This is because some studies have shown a link between vitamin D in the blood and improved vascular function”, Kumar said in a paper appeared online in the journal Pediatric Obesity.
Dr. Seema Kumar, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic Children’s Center in Rochester, said, “But this latest research found the supplements do not improve obese teens’ heart health or reduce their diabetes risk”. “We’re not saying the links between vitamin D deficiency and chronic diseases don’t exist for children-we just haven’t found any yet”. Many health care providers consequently recommend high-dose supplementation to slow or prevent such complications from developing.
She opted to study vitamin D in overweight teens because this population is at increased risk for chronic disease, and because of the compound’s increasing popularity as a homeopathic or complementary treatment for obesity.
A number of observational studies have indicated that vitamin D deficiency may be associated with obesity-related medical complications, such as cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance.
Researchers said they were surprised that no additional heath benefit was found, but they pointed they were not saying that taking the vitamin D supplements was bad as long as they remained at reasonable levels.
Taking supplements of vitamin D is no benefit for obese teens and might actually do harm to their health says a new study.
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Kumar believes that one of the biggest problems is that doctors give obese children increased doses of vitamin D, up to 4-5 times the norm. The researchers were just saying that it is still uncertain how beneficial it is to take vitamin D supplements for the overall well being of adolescents.
