The association between serum vitamin C levels and respiratory infections in children and adolescents
ObjectiveRespiratory infections (RIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and vitamin C may play a vital role in the risk of RIs. However, high-quality evidence on the association between vitamin C and RIs in the younger population remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the ass...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Nutrition |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1601218/full |
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| author | Ci Li Zhiwei Zhu Shicai Jiang Xiang Feng Kaijie Gao Tiewei Li Liu Yang Panpan Fang Junmei Yang |
| author_facet | Ci Li Zhiwei Zhu Shicai Jiang Xiang Feng Kaijie Gao Tiewei Li Liu Yang Panpan Fang Junmei Yang |
| author_sort | Ci Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ObjectiveRespiratory infections (RIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and vitamin C may play a vital role in the risk of RIs. However, high-quality evidence on the association between vitamin C and RIs in the younger population remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the association between serum vitamin C and RI risk in a nationally representative sample of children and adolescents.MethodsUtilizing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2017–2018, this study included 1,344 children and adolescents aged between 6 and 19 years old. Serum vitamin C levels were obtained from laboratory tests, and RIs were determined based on a self-reported health questionnaire. The association between vitamin C and RIs was tested using multivariable logistic regression models, interaction tests, and smoothing curve fitting.ResultsA total of 238 participants (17.7%) reported a respiratory infection in the past 30 days. Serum vitamin C was significantly and negatively associated with the risk of RIs in all regression models. After adjusting for all potential confounders, an increase of the vitamin C level by 10 units indicated a decrease of the RI risk by 7% (OR = 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87, 0.99). Such an association remained consistently significant across subgroups with various demographical and health characteristics.ConclusionOur study shows a negative association between vitamin C and RIs among children and adolescents, highlighting the protective role of vitamin C against RIs. Our findings suggest that vitamin C supplementation may be potentially used for the prevention and treatment of RIs, which needs to be validated in future well-designed studies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0aca6fb48c80484e868fc0cc9f8ada79 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-861X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Nutrition |
| spelling | doaj-art-0aca6fb48c80484e868fc0cc9f8ada792025-08-20T03:24:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Nutrition2296-861X2025-06-011210.3389/fnut.2025.16012181601218The association between serum vitamin C levels and respiratory infections in children and adolescentsCi LiZhiwei ZhuShicai JiangXiang FengKaijie GaoTiewei LiLiu YangPanpan FangJunmei YangObjectiveRespiratory infections (RIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and vitamin C may play a vital role in the risk of RIs. However, high-quality evidence on the association between vitamin C and RIs in the younger population remains limited. This study aimed to investigate the association between serum vitamin C and RI risk in a nationally representative sample of children and adolescents.MethodsUtilizing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2017–2018, this study included 1,344 children and adolescents aged between 6 and 19 years old. Serum vitamin C levels were obtained from laboratory tests, and RIs were determined based on a self-reported health questionnaire. The association between vitamin C and RIs was tested using multivariable logistic regression models, interaction tests, and smoothing curve fitting.ResultsA total of 238 participants (17.7%) reported a respiratory infection in the past 30 days. Serum vitamin C was significantly and negatively associated with the risk of RIs in all regression models. After adjusting for all potential confounders, an increase of the vitamin C level by 10 units indicated a decrease of the RI risk by 7% (OR = 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87, 0.99). Such an association remained consistently significant across subgroups with various demographical and health characteristics.ConclusionOur study shows a negative association between vitamin C and RIs among children and adolescents, highlighting the protective role of vitamin C against RIs. Our findings suggest that vitamin C supplementation may be potentially used for the prevention and treatment of RIs, which needs to be validated in future well-designed studies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1601218/fullvitamin Crespiratory infectionchildrenadolescentsNHANES5 |
| spellingShingle | Ci Li Zhiwei Zhu Shicai Jiang Xiang Feng Kaijie Gao Tiewei Li Liu Yang Panpan Fang Junmei Yang The association between serum vitamin C levels and respiratory infections in children and adolescents Frontiers in Nutrition vitamin C respiratory infection children adolescents NHANES5 |
| title | The association between serum vitamin C levels and respiratory infections in children and adolescents |
| title_full | The association between serum vitamin C levels and respiratory infections in children and adolescents |
| title_fullStr | The association between serum vitamin C levels and respiratory infections in children and adolescents |
| title_full_unstemmed | The association between serum vitamin C levels and respiratory infections in children and adolescents |
| title_short | The association between serum vitamin C levels and respiratory infections in children and adolescents |
| title_sort | association between serum vitamin c levels and respiratory infections in children and adolescents |
| topic | vitamin C respiratory infection children adolescents NHANES5 |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2025.1601218/full |
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