[Large part of The Hague children taking too little vitamin D]

To investigate the extent to which 0-15-year-old children in The Hague are complying with Dutch Health Council vitamin D supplementation advice, and whether there are differences between ethnic groups.

Cross-sectional study.

From November 2014 up to and including October 2015, The Hague organisations for youth health care (YHC) have recorded intake of vitamin D supplementation during standard consultations. YHC 0-4 recorded whether vitamin D supplementation intake was sufficient. YHC 4-18 recorded whether vitamin D supplementation was recommended for the child (aged 4 and older, in case of coloured skin or insufficient time spent outdoors) and whether this child took sufficient vitamin D supplementation. Information on ethnic origin was taken from the digital YHC records.

A large majority of those aged 0-3 received sufficient vitamin D supplementation. Intake was unknown for most 4-year-olds. Vitamin D supplementation was recommended for half of the children aged 5 or older, but a substantial number of them received no (50%) or insufficient (18%) supplementation. Among children for whom extra vitamin D was recommended, there was little difference in vitamin D use between ethnic groups.

The Dutch Health Council recommendation on vitamin D supplementation is intended to prevent vitamin D deficiencies, but there is insufficient compliance by children in The Hague, especially those aged five and older.