Published On: 2013-09-11

​September, 2013: Vitamin D deficiency leads to obesity as well as increased risk of other health complications in children, experts believe. 15% of urban children are obese in India; and it is predicted to double in the next 5 years. Obese children face an increased risk of Vitamin D deficiency because they tend to absorb vitamin D in their fat stores, which prevents it from being utilized in their blood. Vitamin D is one of the most important "vitamins" to overall human health and vital functioning of human body.  Inadequate exposure to sunlight also acts as a contributing factor causing Vitamin D deficiency. With rapidly changing lifestyle, children too prefer to remain indoors engaging in activities like watching television, playing video games or spending a lot of time with computers that makes them physically unfit. Vitamin D is fat soluble, excess body fat will pull vitamin D out of circulation thus contributing to deficiency. Research shows that about 75% of human body’s supply of Vitamin D is generated by our skin’s exposure to sunlight (UV-B rays in particular). Further, vitamin D deficiency plays a big role in problem related to metabolism and weak metabolism eventually leads to obesity. In addition, 10% increase in Body Mass Index reduces 4.2% level of vitamin D in human body. Therefore, for obese children it becomes inevitable to expose to sunlight and raise the vitamin D level. “Maintaining appropriate levels of vitamin D is critical because it influences nearly 3,000 of the roughly 25,000 genes in the human body. Sufficient vitamin D levels assist the body in not only reducing bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol but also help in a multitude of essential repair and maintenance activities,” says Dr. Nischal Bhatt of Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP). Vitamin D deficiency plus obesity, combined, increases your risk of developing Diabetes, Heart diseases and some types of cancer much more than just obesity or just low Vitamin D. Vitamin D, which is essential for healthy bones as well as other functions, is made in the skin after exposure to sunlight but can also be obtained through the diet and through supplements.