Journal article
Effects of school meals with weekly fish servings on vitamin D status in Danish children: secondary outcomes from the OPUS (Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet) School Meal Study
Children's vitamin D intake and status can be optimised to meet recommendations. We investigated if nutritionally balanced school meals with weekly fish servings affected serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and markers related to bone in 8- to 11-year-old Danish children. We conducted an explorative secondary outcome analysis on data from 784 children from the OPUS School Meal Study, a cluster-randomised cross-over trial where children received school meals for 3 months and habitual lunch for 3 months.
At baseline, and at the end of each dietary period, 25(OH)D, parathyroid hormone (PTH), osteocalcin (OC), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), bone mineral content (BMC), bone area (BA), bone mineral density (BMD), dietary intake and physical activity were assessed. School meals increased vitamin D intake by 0·9 (95 % CI 0·7, 1·1) μg/d.
No consistent effects were found on 25(OH)D, BMC, BA, BMD, IGF-1 or OC. However, season-modified effects were observed with 25(OH)D, i.e. children completing the school meal period in January/February had higher 25(OH)D status (5·5 (95 % CI 1·8, 9·2) nmol/l; P = 0·004) than children completing the control period in these months.
A similar tendency was indicated in November/December (4·1 (95 % CI -0·12, 8·3) nmol/l; P = 0·057). However, the effect was opposite in March/April (-4·0 (95 % CI -7·0, -0·9) nmol/l; P = 0·010), and no difference was found in May/June (P = 0·214). Unexpectedly, the school meals slightly increased PTH (0·18 (95 % CI 0·07, 0·29) pmol/l) compared with habitual lunch.
Small increases in dietary vitamin D might hold potential to mitigate the winter nadir in Danish children's 25(OH)D status while higher increases appear necessary to affect status throughout the year. More trials on effects of vitamin D intake from natural foods are needed.
| Language: | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Year: | 2015 |
| Pages: | e26 |
| ISSN: | 20486790 |
| Types: | Journal article |
| DOI: | 10.1017/jns.2015.15 |
| ORCIDs: | 0000-0002-5013-0562 , 0000-0001-9440-2737 , 0000-0002-5095-0624 , 0000-0001-8968-8996 , 0000-0003-0449-0839 , 0000-0002-5311-9457 and Andersen, Rikke |
25(OH)D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D BA, bone area BMC, bone mineral content BMD, bone mineral density Børn Children DXA, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry Ernæring Faculty of Science IGF-1, insulin-like growth factor-1 Medicine Nutrition Nutrition. Foods and food supply OC, osteocalcin OPUS, Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet PTH, parathyroid hormone R School meals Skolemad TX341-641 Vitamin D
