Vitamin D supplementation reduces serum lipids of children with hypertriglyceridemia: a randomized, triple-masked, placebo-controlled crossover trial

Abstract Objective To evaluate the effect of cholecalciferol supplementation on body composition and metabolic profile of children with hypertriglyceridemia. Material and Methods This is a randomized, triple-masked, placebo-controlled crossover trial with 44 Brazilian children with hypertriglyceridemia, aged 4-11 years. The sample included eutrophic and overweight/obese children, according to body mass index-for-age, with sufficient and insufficient vitamin D basal levels. The intervention lasted 34 weeks, with two periods of 12 weeks each separated by a 10-week washout. The two groups, supplemented and placebo, received 5 drops of cholecalciferol (equivalent to 1000 International Units/day) and 5 drops of sunflower oil, respectively, daily for 12 weeks. Sociodemographic, economic, sunscreen use, percentage of body surface area daily exposed to the sun, physical activity, anthropometry (body mass and height), body composition (waist circumference, body fat percentage, fat free mass, triceps and subscapular skinfolds), biochemical profile (25-hydroxyvitamin D, fasting glucose and lipid fractions), blood pressure and food intake data were collected. Results Of the 44 children who concluded the study, 56.80% were female, 54.50% were brown race, 81.82% had sufficient serum 25(OH)D (≥ 75 nmol/L) and 50.00% were overweight/obese, according to BMI-for-age. There was a reduction in serum total cholesterol (TC) (p Conclusions Cholecalciferol supplementation was able to improve the lipid profile of children with hypertriglyceridemia, without altering body composition.