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For the short-term study, 25 students (15 boys and 10 girls) received one-weekly, 14,000 IU doses of vitamin D for eight weeks. Serum levels of 25-OHD were then measured for an additional eight weeks. This portion of the test was conducted during the summer and early fall, when the highest natural levels of vitamin D are reached.

For the long-term, one-year study, 340 students (172 boys and 168 girls) received either a low dose of vitamin D (1,400 IUs each week) or a high dose (14,000 IUs each week).

Only children given the equivalent of 2,000 IUs a day of vitamin D increased 25-OHD levels from the mid-teens to the mid-thirties (ng/ml)the level considered optimal for adults. None of the children in either trial showed any evidence for vitamin D intoxication.

Although many experts agree that a 25-OHD level of 30 ng/ml is desirable in adults, what constitutes an optimal D level for children and adolescents is more debatable. According to the researchers, due to rapid skeletal growth, children and adolescents are more likely to be vitamin D deficient, and are far less likely to reach vitamin D levels that doctors would consider toxic.

Supplementation of children and adolescents with 2,000 IUs a day of vitamin D3 is well tolerated and safe, said Dr. Fuleihan. This is particularly relevant in light of the increasingly recognized health benefits of vitamin D for adults and children.

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