title: Vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent among pregnant African American adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recent attention has focused on vitamin D insufficiency but few data exist on vitamin D status among pregnant minority youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  A screening study was undertaken in adolescents having prenatal blood samples drawn for other routine tests obtained during the second trimester (18+/-1.8 week gestation, n=44) or third trimester of pregnancy (28.4+/-2.1 week gestation, n=36). Serum 25- hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was measured and significant determinants of vitamin D insufficiency in this cohort were identified.
  
  
  METHODS
  Urban prenatal clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty pregnant African American adolescents (< or = 18 y of age).
  
  
  METHODS
  Vitamin D status, STDs, hemoglobin, season, birth weight
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum 25(OH)D in this group averaged 21.6+/-8 ng/mL (age 16.5+/-1.1 y, n=80), and did not significantly differ between the second (20.95+/-8.2 ng/mL, n=44) and third trimester cohorts (22.5+/-7.9 ng/mL, n=36). Vitamin D insufficiency (< 20 ng/mL) was evident in 46.25% and vitamin D deficiency (<15 ng/mL) was evident in 21.25% of those studied. Significant predictors of suboptimal vitamin D status included sampling during the winter months (P=0.004), lower hemoglobin concentration (P=0.019), and higher second trimester leptin levels (P=0.018). Inverse associations between 25(OH)D and bacterial vaginosis were evident when controlled for season of sampling (P=0.02, n=80).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vitamin D insufficiency was prevalent among urban pregnant minority adolescents. Further studies are needed to address the impact of this finding on maternal and neonatal calcium homeostasis and bone health.
authors: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors: Lisa McGuire
authors: LM
authors: Davis
authors: Shih-Chen
authors: SC
authors: Chang
authors: Jeri
authors: J
authors: Mancini
authors: Maureen Schulman
authors: MS
authors: Nathanson
authors: Frank R
authors: FR
authors: Witter
authors: Kimberly O
authors: KO
authors: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D015142:Baltimore / Q000453:epidemiology; D002112:Calcifediol / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D015995:Prevalence; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology*
chemical_list: D002112:Calcifediol