title: Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D with race/ethnicity and constitutive skin color in urban schoolchildren.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which constitutive skin color explains racial/ethnic differences in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentrations in urban schoolchildren. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to determine associations of 25OHD with parent-reported race/ethnicity and constitutive skin color as measured by reflectance colorimeter [individual typology angle (ITA°; higher value corresponds to lighter skin)] in 307 Greater Boston schoolchildren aged 9-15 during October-December 2011. Nearly 60% of all children were inadequate in 25OHD (<20 ng/mL). Prevalence of inadequate 25OHD differed by race/ethnicity (p<0.001): white (46.6%), black (74.5%), Hispanic (64.7%), Asian (88.9%), and multi-racial/other (52.7%). Serum 25OHD increased 0.6 ng/mL per 10° increase in ITA° value (p<0.001). The prediction of 25OHD by race/ethnicity was slightly stronger than the prediction by skin color in separate models (R2=0.19, R2=0.16, respectively). Most of the variability in 25OHD in race/ethnicity was due to constitutive skin color in this group of racially diverse US children.
authors.forename: Lauren E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Au
authors.forename: Susan S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Johanna T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Dwyer
authors.forename: Paul F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Jacques
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sacheck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001900:Boston; D002648:Child; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012574:Schools; D012880:Skin Pigmentation; D013334:Students; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D014505:Urban Population; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood* / Q000208:ethnology*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D