New research has linked Vitamin D to a range of health benefits – from reduced inflammation to heart disease to diabetes – but it’s not a miracle worker when it comes to boosting teens’ academic performance, a new study has found.
The new research, published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, was prompted by previous studies showing higher levels of the “sunshine vitamin” can improve the mental skills of adults.
Researchers wanted to find out if the same was true of children, and what impact different types of the vitamin - from sunlight (vitamin D3) or from plants (vitamin D2) - might have.
For the study, they analyzed the academic performance of several thousand children whose vitamin D3 and D2 levels were measured as part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children -- a long-running health assessment of kids born in the early 1990s.
Researchers said children with higher vitamin D levels did not do better in English, math and science classes than those with lower levels.
The findings suggest the benefits of the vitamin on adult brainpower don't emerge until later in life, perhaps because it as a greater impact on an aging brain.