In adolescence, middle school students with vitamin D deficiency are twice as likely to suffer from emotional disorders as their peers with higher vitamin levels. In addition, the protein level of vitamin D in blood is low, which is related to more aggressive behavior, anxiety and depression symptoms.
The study was published in the Journal of Nutrition in 2000 by Eduardo Vilamo, a professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health. He said: Children who lack vitamin D in primary schools seem to score higher on adolescent behavior problems tests. Vitamin D deficiency is related to other mental health problems in adulthood, including depression and schizophrenia.
Vilamo research team randomly recruited 3202 children aged 5 to 12 in Bogota to participate in the study. The researchers obtained information such as children's daily life habits, mother's education level, weight, height, family food safety, socio-economic status and blood samples.
About six years later, when these children were between 1 1 years old and 18 years old, the researchers conducted face-to-face follow-up interviews with one third of the participants, evaluated the children's behavior through questionnaires with their parents, and analyzed the vitamin D status of 273 participants.
Although this study has limitations. The results show that vitamin D deficiency may have become a public health problem, and more research is needed on the neurobehavioral results of other people with vitamin D deficiency.