Low Vitamin D Linked To Allergies In Children

A research team from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York collected blood samples from more than 3,100 children and 3,400 adults, and analyzed sensitivity to 17 different allergens. The team measured the production levels of Immunoglobulin E (IgE), the protein made when the immune system reacts to allergens, and compared it to blood serum levels of vitamin D.

While no specific correlation in this particular study was observed between vitamin D and allergens in adults, children and adolescents with low levels of vitamin D were found to be sensitive to an average of 11 of the 17 allergens, which included environmental allergens like ragweed and oak, and food allergens like eggs and peanuts. Children with less than 15 nanograms per milliliter (Ng/mL) of vitamin D in their blood, which was the threshold of deficiency used in the study, were 240 percent more likely to have a peanut allergy than children with 30 Ng/mL of vitamin D or higher, for instance.

The findings confirm those of a 2007 Harvard University study that claimed increased sunlight exposure could reduce the onset of both allergies and asthma in children. That study found a link between vitamin D deficiency and such conditions in adults as well, noting that pregnant women who are vitamin D deficient are more likely to bear children with allergies or asthma than pregnant women with higher levels.