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Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of New Zealanders aged 15 years and older

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Abstract

Introduction

Vitamin D plays an important role in bone health. Our purpose was to measure serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and their determinants in a national sample (n=2,946) of New Zealanders aged 15 years and over.

Findings

Mean (99% CI) serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were 47 (45–50) nmol/l in women and 52 (49–55) nmol/l in men. Mean concentrations in New Zealand European and Others (NZEO, n=2,440), Mori (n=370), and Pacific (n=136) were 51 (49–53), 42 (38–46) and 37 (33–42) nmol/l, respectively. Three percent of New Zealanders had serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations indicative of deficiency (≤17.5 nmol/l); 48% and 84% were insufficient based on cutoffs of ≤50 and ≤80 nmol/l. Determinants of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in women were age, ethnicity, obesity, latitude and season; determinants in men were ethnicity and season. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in women declined with age; mean concentration was 13 (8–18) nmol/l lower in women 65 years or older and 9 (5–13) nmol/l lower in women 45–64 years compared with women 15–18 years. Spring to summer differences in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D were 31 (28–34) and 28 (25–31) nmol/l in women and men, respectively. Obese women had lower vitamin status than normal-weight women by 6 (3–10). Women living in the South Island had a mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D that was 6 (3–9) nmol/l lower than women living in the North Island. Ethnicity and season are the major determinants of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in New Zealanders.

Conclusion

The high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in New Zealanders, particularly in older women, may warrant strategies to improve vitamin D status.

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Acknowledgements

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority funded the vitamin D analysis. The 1997 National Nutrition Survey was funded by the Ministry of Health, with principal investigators from the LINZ Activity and Health Research Unit of the University of Otago (David Russell, Winsome Parnell, Noela Wilson).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

    J. E. P. Rockell, C. M. Skeaff & T. J. Green

  2. Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

    S. M. Williams

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  1. J. E. P. Rockell
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Correspondence to C. M. Skeaff.

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Rockell, J.E.P., Skeaff, C.M., Williams, S.M. et al. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of New Zealanders aged 15 years and older. Osteoporos Int 17, 1382–1389 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-006-0118-x

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