Background: Cross-sectional studies have indicated that vitamin D serostatus is inversely associated with adiposity. It is unknown whether vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for the development of adiposity in children. Objective: We investigated the associations between vitamin D serostatus and changes in body mass index (BMI; in kg/m 2 ), skinfoldthickness ratio (subscapular-to-triceps), waist circumference, and height in a longitudinal study in children from Bogota, Colombia. Results: Vitamin D-deficient children had an adjusted 0.1/y greater change in BMI than did vitamin D-sufficient children (P for trend = 0.05). Similarly, vitamin D-deficient children had a 0.03/y (95% CI: 0.01, 0.05/y) greater change in subscapular-to-triceps skinfoldthickness ratio and a 0.8 cm/y (95% CI: 0.1, 1.6 cm/y) greater change in waist circumference than did vitamin D-sufficient children. Vitamin D deficiency was related to slower linear growth in girls (20.6 cm/y, P = 0.04) but not in boys (0.3 cm/y, P = 0.34); however, an interaction with sex was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Vitamin D serostatus was inversely associated with the development of adiposity in school-age children.

Background: Early menarche is a risk factor for cardiometabolic disease and cancer. Latitude, which influences sun exposure, is inversely related to age at menarche. This association might be related to vitamin D, but to our knowledge it has not been investigated in prospective epidemiologic studies. Objective: We studied the association between vitamin D status and the occurrence of menarche in a prospective study in girls from Bogota, Colombia.concentrations in a random sample of 242 girls (mean 6 SD age: 8.8 6 1.6 y) and followed them for a median of 30 mo. Girls were asked periodically about the occurrence and date of menarche. Baseline 25(OH)D concentrations were categorized as ,50 nmol/L (deficient), 50 and ,75 nmol/L, or 75 nmol/L (sufficient). The incidence of menarche was compared between groups by using time-to-event analyses. Results: A total of 57% of girls in the vitamin D-deficient group reached menarche during follow-up compared with 23% of girls in the vitamin D-sufficient group (P-trend = 0.0004). The estimated mean (6SE) ages at menarche in the same groups were 11.8 6 0.2 y and 12.6 6 0.2 y, respectively (P = 0.0009). After adjustment for baseline age and BMI-for-age z score in a Cox proportional hazards model, the probability of menarche was twice as high in vitamin D-deficient girls than in girls who were vitamin D-sufficient (HR: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.03, 4.07; P = 0.04). Similar results were obtained in girls aged 9 y at baseline (HR: 2.39; 95% CI: 1.14, 5.00; P = 0.02).

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