Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of hypovitaminosis D and folate deficiency in healthy young female Austrian students in a health care profession

  • Original Contribution
  • Published:
European Journal of Nutrition Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

We performed a single-day cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency as well as folate status in healthy young female volunteers well educated with respect to health information.

Methods

We assessed dietary intake of vitamin D and calcium, serum concentrations of 25-OH-vitamin D3, folate, red blood cell folate and other dietary, laboratory, and lifestyle parameters in 215 young healthy women (age 18–30 years) on a single day at the end of the winter months. Primary aim was to investigate the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D. Folic acid status was a secondary study aim.

Results

Mean daily ingestion of vitamin D was 2.25 μg/day with a daily calcium intake of 749 mg/day. 6.9% had hypovitaminosis D (25-OH-vitamin D3 <30 nmol/L) and 89.3% were vitamin D insufficient (<75 nmol/L). Preplanned subpopulation comparison (lower vs. upper quartile) revealed a significant negative correlation (P = 0.048) between plasma PTH and 25-OH-vitamin D3 levels. Fifteen individuals (6.9%) were folic acid deficient (<140 ng/mL RBC folate). Only 9.3% reached RBC folate concentrations regarded as optimal for the prevention of fetal neural tube defects (>400 ng/mL).

Conclusions

The prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in healthy young women trained in health care professions is low but 89.3% can be classified as vitamin D insufficient in spring. Folate status can also be considered not sufficient. Considering the emerging role of higher vitamin D plasma levels for many health conditions, a timely correction of vitamin D status in the general Austrian population appears appropriate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Holick MF (2007) Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med 357:266–281

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kudlacek S, Schneider B, Peterlik M, Leb G, Klaushofer K, Weber K, Woloszczuk W, Willvonseder R (2003) Assessment of vitamin D and calcium status in healthy adult Austrians. Eur J Clin Invest 33:323–331

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Javaid MK, Crozier SR, Harvey NC, Gale CR, Dennison EM, Boucher BJ, Arden NK, Godfrey KM, Cooper C (2006) Maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and childhood bone mass at age 9 years: a longitudinal study. Lancet 367:36–43

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Elmadfa I, Freisling H (2009) Nutritional status in Europe: methods and results. Nutr Rev 67(Suppl 1):S130–S134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Fabian E, Elmadfa I (2008) Nutritional situation of the elderly in the European Union: data of the European nutrition, health report (2004). Ann Nutr Metab 52(Suppl 1):57–61

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Holick MF (2011) Vitamin D deficiency in 2010: health benefits of vitamin D and sunlight: a D-bate. Nat Rev Endocrinol 7:73–75

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Daly S, Mills JL, Molloy AM, Conley M, Lee YJ, Kirke PN, Weir DG, Scott JM (1997) Minimum effective dose of folic acid for food fortification to prevent neural-tube defects. Lancet 350:1666–1669

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Pfeiffer CM, Johnson CL, Jain RB, Yetley EA, Picciano MF, Rader JI, Fisher KD, Mulinare J, Osterloh JD (2007) Trends in blood folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations in the United States, 1988–2004. Am J Clin Nutr 86:718–727

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Dietrich M, Brown CJ, Block G (2005) The effect of folate fortification of cereal-grain products on blood folate status, dietary folate intake, and dietary folate sources among adult non-supplement users in the United States. J Am Coll Nutr 24:266–274

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Biro G, Hulshof KF, Ovesen L, Amorim Cruz JA (2002) Selection of methodology to assess food intake. Eur J Clin Nutr 56(Suppl 2):S25–S32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Magkos F, Manios Y, Babaroutsi E, Sidossis LS (2006) Development and validation of a food frequency questionnaire for assessing dietary calcium intake in the general population. Osteoporos Int 17:304–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Basiotis PP, Welsh SO, Cronin FJ, Kelsay JL, Mertz W (1987) Number of days of food intake records required to estimate individual and group nutrient intakes with defined confidence. J Nutr 117:1638–1641

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Cade J, Thompson R, Burley V, Warm D (2002) Development, validation and utilisation of food-frequency questionnaires—a review. Public Health Nutr 5:567–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Doets EL, de Wit LS, Dhonukshe-Rutten RA, Cavelaars AE, Raats MM, Timotijevic L, Brzozowska A, Wijnhoven TM, Pavlovic M, Totland TH, Andersen LF, Ruprich J, Pijls LT, Ashwell M, Lambert JP, van ‘t Veer P, de Groot LC (2008) Current micronutrient recommendations in Europe: towards understanding their differences and similarities. Eur J Nutr 47(Suppl 1):17–40

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Lips P, Duong T, Oleksik A, Black D, Cummings S, Cox D, Nickelsen T (2001) A global study of vitamin D status and parathyroid function in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis: baseline data from the multiple outcomes of raloxifene evaluation clinical trial. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 86:1212–1221

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Houghton LA, Szymlek-Gay EA, Gray AR, Ferguson EL, Deng X, Heath AL (2010) Predictors of vitamin D status and its association with parathyroid hormone in young New Zealand children. Am J Clin Nutr 92:69–76

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Thomas MK, Lloyd-Jones DM, Thadhani RI, Shaw AC, Deraska DJ, Kitch BT, Vamvakas EC, Dick IM, Prince RL, Finkelstein JS (1998) Hypovitaminosis D in medical inpatients. N Engl J Med 338:777–783

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. McKenzie RL, Liley JB, Bjorn LO (2009) UV radiation: balancing risks and benefits. Photochem Photobiol 85:88–98

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Statistik Austria (2008) Health survey 2006/2007; http://www.statistik.at

  20. Austrian Federal Ministry of Health, Vienna (2011) Handbook alcohol—Austria

  21. Roth HJ, Schmidt-Gayk H, Weber H, Niederau C (2008) Accuracy and clinical implications of seven 25-hydroxyvitamin D methods compared with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry as a reference. Ann Clin Biochem 45(Pt 2):153–159

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Rosen CJ (2011) Clinical practice. Vitamin D insufficiency. N Engl J Med 364(3):248–254

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Soldin OP, Makambi KH, Soldin SJ, O’Mara DM, Need AG, Horowitz M, Morris HA, Nordin BC (2011) Steroid hormone levels associated with passive and active smoking. Steroids 76:653–659

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Brot C, Jorgensen NR, Sorensen OH (1999) The influence of smoking on vitamin D status and calcium metabolism. Eur J Clin Nutr 53:920–926

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Supervia A, Nogues X, Enjuanes A, Vila J, Mellibovsky L, Serrano S, Aubia J, Diez-Perez A (2006) Effect of smoking and smoking cessation on bone mass, bone remodeling, vitamin D, PTH and sex hormones. J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact 6:234–241

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Heaney RP, Davies KM, Chen TC, Holick MF, Barger-Lux MJ (2003) Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol. Am J Clin Nutr 77:204–210

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Meier C, Woitge HW, Witte K, Lemmer B, Seibel MJ (2004) Supplementation with oral vitamin D3 and calcium during winter prevents seasonal bone loss: a randomized controlled open-label prospective trial. J Bone Miner Res 19:1221–1230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lappe JM, Davies KM, Travers-Gustafson D, Heaney RP (2006) Vitamin D status in a rural postmenopausal female population. J Am Coll Nutr 25:395–402

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Ross AC, Manson JE, Abrams SA, Aloia JF, Brannon PM, Clinton SK, Durazo-Arvizu RA, Gallagher JC, Gallo RL, Jones G, Kovacs CS, Mayne ST, Rosen CJ, Shapses SA (2011) The 2011 report on dietary reference intakes for calcium and vitamin D from the Institute of Medicine: what clinicians need to know. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 96:53–58

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Chung M, Balk EM, Brendel M, Ip S, Lau J, Lee J, Lichtenstein A, Patel K, Raman G, Tatsioni A, Terasawa T, Trikalinos TA (2009) Vitamin D and calcium: a systematic review of health outcomes. Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep) 183:1–420

    Google Scholar 

  31. Cashman KD, FitzGerald AP, Viljakainen HT, Jakobsen J, Michaelsen KF, Lamberg-Allardt C, Molgaard C (2011) Estimation of the dietary requirement for vitamin D in healthy adolescent white girls. Am J Clin Nutr 93:549–555

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Knight JA, Wong J, Blackmore KM, Raboud JM, Vieth R (2010) Vitamin D association with estradiol and progesterone in young women. Cancer Causes Control 21:479–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Schiller-Fruhwirth I, Mittermayr T, Wild C (2010) Neural tube defects in Austria: assumption and calculations on the prevention potential through folic acid enrichment and supplementation. Gesundheitswesen 72:880–885

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Figueiredo JC, Grau MV, Haile RW, Sandler RS, Summers RW, Bresalier RS, Burke CA, McKeown-Eyssen GE, Baron JA (2009) Folic acid and risk of prostate cancer: results from a randomized clinical trial. J Natl Cancer Inst 101(6):432–435

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Smith AD, Kim YI, Refsum H (2008) Is folic acid good for everyone? Am J Clin Nutr 87(3):517–533

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the Austrian Chamber of Pharmacists (Mag. M. Hochstöger), the Coordination Service for Gender Mainstreaming and Research (Drin. Margarethe Hochleitner, Innsbruck Medical University), and the University of Innsbruck for generous financial support for laboratory reagents; Drin. S. Embacher (Coordination Center for Clinical Trials, Medical University of Innsbruck) for helpful advice; J. Jelcic for competent support in the blood donation campaign. We also thank the following students for their generous and enthusiastic help: Maria Blassnigg, Markus Gasteiger, Gabriele Hauer, Klaus Orion, Barbara Strobl, Sarah Achenrainer, Magdalena Brunner, Angelika Eiter, Janette Entstrasser, Cornelia Graf, Ingrid Griesser, Nicole Kurz, Evelyn Mölschl, Anna-Angelika Oppeneigner, Mariana Putzengruber, Sabine Ringler, Angelika Scharf, Sarah Schutti, Carina Schwaighofer, Nicole Walcher; Christina Brugger, Johann Peter Colvin, Barbara Deutsch, Lukas Gleirscher, Günther Kriechhammer, Anna Schwaiger, Barbara Striessnig.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacy, Peter-Mayrstr. 1, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Stefan T. Kaehler, Anna Ratt, Anna C. Colvin, Jennifer Falk, Astrid Gasser & Jörg Striessnig

  2. Ethics Committee, Innsbruck Medical University, (non-voting member), Innrain 43, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Holger Baumgartner

  3. Pharmacy Department, University Hospital Innsbruck, Anichstr. 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Martina Jeske

  4. Central Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, University Hospital Innsbruck, Anichstr. 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Markus Anliker & Andrea Griesmacher

  5. Central Institute of Blood Transfusion and Immunology, Anichstr. 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Harald Schennach

  6. Department of Internal Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Anichstr. 35, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Peter Marschang

  7. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacy, Peter-Mayrstr. 1, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Julia Kirchebner

  8. Fhg-Zentrum für Gesundheitsberufe Tirol GmbH, Innrain 98, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Christine Scherer & Anna E. Purtscher

  9. Center for Molecular Biosciences, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Jörg Striessnig

Authors
  1. Stefan T. Kaehler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Holger Baumgartner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Martina Jeske
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Markus Anliker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Harald Schennach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Peter Marschang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Anna Ratt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Anna C. Colvin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Jennifer Falk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Astrid Gasser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Julia Kirchebner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Christine Scherer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Anna E. Purtscher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Andrea Griesmacher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Jörg Striessnig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jörg Striessnig.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kaehler, S.T., Baumgartner, H., Jeske, M. et al. Prevalence of hypovitaminosis D and folate deficiency in healthy young female Austrian students in a health care profession. Eur J Nutr 51, 1021–1031 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-011-0281-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-011-0281-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation