Prevalence and Covariates of Vitamin D Deficiencies (VDD) among Adolescents in India.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the overall burden of vitamin D deficiencies (VDD) among Indian adolescents aged 10-19 y and to explore some selected covariates to determine a comprehensive guide to explore the vulnerable segments its guiding factors of VDD.

METHODS

The study used secondary data of 11,822 adolescent children from the Community National Nutrition Survey (CNNS), undertaken in 2016-18. The data were analyzed by using STATA version 17.0. The multinomial logistic regression model was used to explore the covariates of VDD after adjusting all multicollinearity and giving analytical as well as sampling weights.

RESULTS

The results revealed that nearly one-fourth of adolescent children have VDD (23.46%, 95% CI: 22.69%-24.22%) across India. Children belonging to the Hindu caste population, children who occasionally (and not weekly), or never, consume eggs, children living in north Indian states specifically in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttarakhand, children belonging to the richest households (wealth index-wise), and children suffering from overweight and obesity were more inclined to VDD. In the final adjusted multinomial regression model, the odds of VDD were significantly higher among urban living children.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings concluded that proper intervention programs targeting specific population groups and/or regions of India are essential to combat the burden of VDD for enriching India's sustainable development goal of eradicating hunger by 2030.