Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr 10:7:100052.
doi: 10.1016/j.jposna.2024.100052. eCollection 2024 May.

The importance of bone health for pediatric athletes: From juvenile osteochondritis dissecans to relative energy deficiency in sports

Louise Atadja  1 , Jennifer Beck  2 , Corinna Franklin  1
Affiliations

The importance of bone health for pediatric athletes: From juvenile osteochondritis dissecans to relative energy deficiency in sports

Louise Atadja et al. J Pediatr Soc North Am. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Vitamin D is pivotal for bone health, muscle strength, recovery, and overall athletic performance. This article discusses the effects of vitamin D deficiency among athletes, with a specific focus on its connection to sports-related conditions like Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) and Juvenile Osteochondritis Dissecans (JOCD). Additionally, we review the importance of vitamin D for muscle strength and muscle repair. Vitamin D deficiency exacerbates the risk of stress fractures in RED-S patients due to its impact on bone biology. Research points to an increased incidence of vitamin D deficiency in JOCD patients, indicating a potential connection between the condition and low vitamin D levels. Children and athletes should be screened for vitamin D deficiency as supplementation has been found to have positive outcomes. This article underscores the pivotal role of vitamin D in athletic performance. Further research is essential to elucidate how vitamin D deficiency contributes to sports-related pathologies and to establish the optimal vitamin D levels for injury prevention in athletes.

Keywords: Bone stress injury; Female athlete triad; OCD; RED-S; Stress fractures; Vitamin D.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References

    1. Holick M.F. The D-lightful vitamin D for child health. JPEN J Parent Enter Nutr. 2012;36(1 Suppl):9S–19S. doi: 10.1177/0148607111430189. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Williams K., Hughes D., Horan M. Vitamin D trends in the pediatric orthopaedic population: a survey. J Pedia Orthop. 2020;40(1):58–62. doi: 10.1097/BPO.0000000000001394. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Misra M., Pacaud D., Petryk A., Collett-Solberg P.F., Kappy M. Vitamin D deficiency in children and its management: review of current knowledge and recommendations. Pediatrics. 2008;122(2):398–417. doi: 10.1542/peds.2007-1894. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vojinovic J., Cimaz R. Vitamin D—update for the pediatric rheumatologists. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J. 2015;13:18. doi: 10.1186/s12969-015-0017-9. Published 2015 May 29. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Peroni D.G., Trambusti I., Di Cicco M.E., Nuzzi G. Vitamin D in pediatric health and disease. Pedia Allergy Immunol. 2020;31(S24):54–57. doi: 10.1111/pai.13154. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources