The role of vitamin d to prevent children’s stunting

Abstract

Stunting is one of the world's major nutritional problems particularly in developing countries, and is characterized by chronic growth and development impairment in children. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2022, the prevalence of stunting was 22.3%, or around 148.1 million. The direct cause of stunting is poor nutritional intake of both macronutrients and micronutrients. One crucial micronutrient for linear growth is vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency can cause developmental delays in children. Vitamin D supplementation in pregnant women and children may have beneficial effects in preventing stunting and promoting growth in children. The main objective of this study was to determine the role of vitamin D to prevent childrens stunting. This study is a literature review using PubMed and the Google database to identify articles published in the period 2015–2023. In conclusion, vitamin D has an important role to prevent childrens stunting. The effect of vitamin D deficiency on the process of bone growth in stunted toddlers is inhibited by inhibiting the function of IGF-1 in increasing osteoblastogenesis, thereby reducing the rate of bone growth. Stunting can be prevented early on through the adequate intake of macro and micronutrient nutrients. The need for micronutrients is especially important, including vitamin D as an important element in bone metabolism.