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Upper extremity fracture in African-American children linked to vitamin deficiency
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Low bone mineral density and a vitamin D deficiency in African-American children put them more at risk of forearm fracture than other children, according to this study.
Researchers at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. examined African-American children between 5 years and 9 years old for bone mineral density (BMD) and vitamin D. Children with fractures were more likely to be overweight (49.3% vs. 31.4%), have lower BMD scores (0.62 vs. 0.98) and be vitamin D deficient (47.1% vs. 40.8%) than the control group.
There were no significant differences in case and control patients due to gender, age, height, duration of outdoor play, enrollment season, parent education level or mean dietary calcium nutrient density, according to the abstract. Researchers enrolled 74 control patients and compared them against 76 forearm fracture cases.
“Because suboptimal bone health also negatively impacts adult bone health, interventions to increase bone mineral density and correct vitamin D deficiency are indicated in this population to provide short-term and long-term benefits,” the authors wrote.
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