Vitamin D (Bio)Fortified Shopping Baskets to Improve Vitamin D Status

Summary

Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones, muscles, and immune function. It comes from food, supplements, and sunlight. There are two main forms; vitamin D2, found mainly in plant foods, and vitamin D3, which comes from animal foods and is more effective at increasing vitamin D levels in the body. In the UK, sunlight is often too weak especially in winter for the body to make enough vitamin D, so people rely mainly on dietary sources and supplements. Despite this, many people in the UK have low vitamin D levels, and teenagers are particularly at risk due to increased needs during growth, with around one in five adolescents having low vitamin D levels. Poor intake of vitamin D-rich foods, low supplement use, and inconsistent food fortification contribute to this problem. This study aims to assess whether a family-based household diet using natural and fortified vitamin D foods during winter can improve vitamin D levels in adolescents.

Conditions

• Vitamin D Biofortification
• Vitamin D Fortification
• Vitamin D Status

Interventions

OTHER

Vitamin D (bio)fortified food basket

Basket of vitamin D (bio)fortified foods provided to a household for consumption

OTHER

Control food basket

Basket of control foods provided to a household for consumption

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Foodovation North West Regional College

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Kenedy Bacon

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Sofina Foods Europe

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Humanativ Ltd

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Ulster

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

4 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-02-12

Primary Completion

2027-04-30

Completion

2027-04-30

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations