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In regions where sunlight exposure is limited, dietary vitamin D intake becomes important for maintaining status. However, Swedish children have been shown to have deficient or marginal status during the winter months even if the recommended dietary intake is met. Since low vitamin D status has been associated with several disease states, this study investigated the metabolic changes associated with improved vitamin D status due to supplementation.

During the 3 winter months, 5-7-year-old children (n=170) in northern (limed, 63 degrees N) and southern (Malmo, 55 degrees N) Sweden were supplemented daily with 2 (placebo), 10 or 25 mu g of vitamin D. BMI-for-age z-scores (BAZ), S-25(OH)D concentrations, insulin concentrations and the serum metabolome were assessed at baseline and follow-up.

S-25(OH)D concentrations increased significantly in both supplementation groups (P<.001). Only arginine and isopropanol concentrations exhibited significant associations with improvements in S-25(OH)D. Furthermore, the extent to which S-25(OH)D increased was correlated with a combination of baseline BAZ and the change in serum fructose concentrations from baseline to follow up (P=.012). In particular, the change in S-25(OH)D concentrations was negatively correlated (P=.030) with the change in fructose concentrations for subjects with BAZ >= 0 and consuming at least 20 mu g vitamin D daily. These results suggest that although the metabolic changes associated with improved vitamin D status are small, the effectiveness of dietary supplementation may be influenced by serum fructose concentrations.