Vitamin D Deficiency and Low Bone Mineral Content in Children

The Vitamin D study is designed to investigate the effect of body fat mass on vitamin D levels in children. Earlier studies have shown that individuals with increased fat mass may have low vitamin D levels. Our specific hypothesis states that children with increased fat mass will have lower blood levels of vitamin D when compared to non-obese children.Since vitamin D is the primary hormone for bone mineralization in humans, low levels of vitamin D could lead to decreased bone mineral content in these children.