Work

Can vitamin D supplementation affect cardiometabolic factors in children and adolescence with overweight and obesity? A grade-assessed systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Year: 2025

Type: review

Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis

Abstract: Vitamin D have been proposed as a supplement to improve cardiometabolic risk factors in obese/overweight children and adolescents. However, findings evidence remains inconsistent. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the effects of vitamin D supplementation on cardiometabolic risk factors in obese/overweight children and adolescents. A systematic review of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar up to April 2025 was searched. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on cardiometabolic factors including anthropometric indices, glycemic state and lipid profile. Data were pooled using a random-effects model to calculate weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Nine studies with 440 participants were included. The meta-analysis revealed that vitamin D supplementation no significantly improved BMI, BMI-Z, FBS, insulin, HOMA-IR, QUICKI, TG, TC, and LDL-C. However, it was accompanied with a significant reduction in HDL-C level. Subgroup-analysis showed that vitamin D 2 showed a greater reduction in HOMA-IR compared to vitamin D 3 , though the effect was statistically significant (WMD = -0.51, 95% CI: -1.00 to -0.03; p = 0.038). The current meta-analysis revealed vitamin D supplementation has no favorable effect on cardiometabolic risk factors. More high-quality and large-scale trials are needed to provide more robust evidence.

Source: BMC Pediatrics

DOI: 10.1186/s12887-025-05795-2