Allergies are more likely to affect kids with low vitamin D levels.
Researchers looked at the serum vitamin D levels of more than 3,400 adults and 3,100 children. While low vitamin D levels had no effect on whether or not adults developed allergies, there was a significant link in kids between low vitamin D levels and allergies.
"For example, children who had vitamin D deficiency, which was defined as less than 15 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter of blood, were 2.4 times more likely to have a peanut allergy than kids with sufficient levels, or 30 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter of blood," reports WebMD. Low vitamin D levels in children have also been linked to an increased risk of developing an allergic sensitivity to dogs, ragweed, ryegrass, thistle, shrimp, cockroaches, oak, and Bermuda grass.
The incidence of food allergies in the U.S. is increasing, as is the incidence of vitamin D deficiency. About 40 percent of people in the U.S. are considered vitamin D deficient, including 48 percent of girls between the ages of 9 and 11.
While the findings of this study do not prove that vitamin D deficiency causes allergies in children, it strongly points to the importance of ensuring that they get adequate amounts of vitamin D every day.
"The latest dietary recommendations calling for children to take in 600 IU of vitamin D daily should keep them from becoming vitamin D deficient," says Michal Melamed, MD, MHS, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
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