Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency and its Associated Factors in the Age Group of 6 Months to 5 Years

Introduction: There is a widespread misconception that vitamin D deficiency and rickets are uncommon in India due to the country's plentiful sunshine, which is a major source of vitamin D. However, studies show that the world is currently experiencing a pandemic of vitamin D deficiency, and even the youngest children are not exempt. Recent changes in the city include a rise in industry, adoption of the western method of weaning, and dietary practices that may have an impact on a child's health. Objective: determine the prevalence of deficiency of vitamin D in children aged six months to five years and its contributing factors. Methods: At the Katuri Medical college And Hospital, Guntur, 100 patients who met the criteria and enrolled for the study after receiving informed consent, were the subjects of an observational, cross-sectional study over an 18-month period from September 2022 to February 2024. It was decided to estimate the amounts of serum 25 OH Vitamin D, serum calcium, serum phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase using venous sample analysis. Results: We found that, out of 100 cases, 32 (32%) and 42 (42%) cases, respectively, exhibited vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency. Only 26 children (26%) had normal vitamin D levels. No statistically significant difference was seen in vitamin D levels among gender, religion, birth weight and socio-economic status in three groups. Among strictly vegetarians, when compared to insufficiency 5 (11.90%) and the normal group 3 (11.53%), vitamin D deficiency is more prevalent 7 (21.87%), which was statistically significant (p value 0.048). Among Preterm infants, it was statistically significant that, 18.75 % had vitamin D deficiency, 9.52 % had vitamin D insufficiency, and 7.69 % had normal vitamin D levels. However, no significant difference found between those 3 groups of fullterm babies. In the vitamin D deficit, insufficient, and normal groups, respectively, exclusive breastfeeding was seen in 25 (78.12%), 34 (80.95%) and 20 (76.92%) cases, all without statistical significance (p value > 0.05). In present study, vitamin D deficiency occurred in 19 (59.37%) patients with respiratory infections, insufficiency in 3 (7.14%), and only normal vitamin D levels were present in 2 (7.69%) of the cases, which was statistically highly significant. No significant correlation between levels of vitamin D and clinical features ofRickets.Serum alkaline phosphatase levels are significantly elevated with p value <0.05 in deficiency, and there is no significant difference in serum calcium and serum phosphorous levels.Conclusion: Children between 2 and 3 years are more susceptible to deficiency, as are those who were born prematurely and those who were strict vegetarians.Estimating serum calcium and phosphorus levels may not be a reliable indicator of vitamin D deficiency, especially in the early stages.