Vitamin D levels in hospitalised children of Southern Italy: A relationship with cause of admittance?

25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentration was assessed and Vitamin D status was defined as follows: deficiency with serum 25OHD<10ng/ml, insufficiency between 10 and 29.9ng/ml, sufficiency with serum 25OHD between 30 and 100ng/ml. Collected data included age, gender and season of hospitalization. Results: Mean level of serum 25 OHD in our population was 21.34±10.24ng/ml. SignificantvitaminDvariationswere recorded according to season in which blood samples were drawn, mean levels were: 18.6±10ng/ml during winter, 18.9±7.8ng/ml during spring, 27.8±11.2ng/ml during summer, 21.3±10.2 during autumn (p<0.001). The prevalence rates of vitamin D deficiency, insufficiency and sufficiency during summer were: 1.8%, 66.3% and 31.9% respectively. Conclusions: Vitamin D levels are strongly influenced by seasonality, but according to our results only 31.9% of children presented sufficient pattern during summer. It’s important to establish screening, supplementation guidelines and pediatric cut-off levels to optimize vitamin D status in children.