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New perspectives on vitamin D sources in Germany based on a novel mathematical bottom-up model of 25(OH)D serum concentrations

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Abstract

Purpose

Up-to-date knowledge about vitamin D supply and serum concentration in Germany is not sufficient. Our purpose was to compare a novel holistic bottom-up modeling of 25(OH)D concentrations with vitamin D sources such as sunlight, food and supplements for all federal states taking seasonal and geographical variations into account. The second purpose was to update and detail vitamin D supply through food in Germany.

Methods

To confirm the model of 25(OH)D concentrations, we used the population (1,763 men and 2,267 women, 18–79 years) participated in the representative German National Health Interview and Examination Survey 1998 and the integrated German Nutrition Survey.

Results

The maximum model value is 67.5 nmol/L in July and minimum model value is 29.3 nmol/L in January, while the average model value is 45.0 nmol/L. Men have a mean daily intake of 137 IU (3.42 μg) and women of 112 IU (2.79 μg). Correlation between model and actual data is 0.77 (p = 0.003).

Conclusions

A comparison of the model data with population-based values showed good agreement. None of the vitamin D sources can provide the German population with enough vitamin D.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Scheidt-Nave and Dr. Mensink for critical reading of the manuscript and helpful comments. The authors also thank Dr. Hintzpeter, the “Robert Koch-Institute,” the “Federal agency for agriculture and food,” the “German federal office for radiation protection,” the “German Meteorological Service Provider” and Dr. Jobst Augustin for information, data as well as helpful discussions.

Conflict of interest

The authors claim that there is no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Osteology and Biomechanics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Jonathan Brown, Michael Amling & Florian Barvencik

  2. Institute of Orthopaedic Research and Biomechanics, Ulm University, Helmholtzstraße 14, 89081, Ulm, Germany

    Anita Ignatius

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  1. Jonathan Brown
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  2. Anita Ignatius
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Correspondence to Michael Amling.

Electronic supplementary material

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394_2012_477_MOESM1_ESM.ppt

Supplementary material 1 A. Ten measuring points for mean daily ambient erythemal UV in Germany from the “German federal office for radiation protection”. The distribution of the measuring points is well suited for an interpolation of data (PPT 314 kb)

394_2012_477_MOESM2_ESM.ppt

Supplementary material 2 A. Seasonal variations of hours of daylight for the 16 German federal states. The x-axis shows months of the year, while the y-axis hours of daylight. Abbreviations: BW = Baden-Wuerttemberg, BY = Bavaria, BE = Berlin, BB = Brandenburg, HB = Bremen, HH = Hamburg, HE = Hesse, MV = Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, NI = Lower Saxony, NW = North Rhine-Westphalia, RP = Rhineland-Palatinate, SL = Saarland, SN = Saxony, ST = Saxony-Anhalt, SH = Schleswig-Holstein, TH = Thuringia (PPT 691 kb)

394_2012_477_MOESM3_ESM.ppt

Supplementary material 3 A. Comparison of average vitamin D status of all German federal states. It becomes obvious that minimum concentrations are almost constant among all states. This is due to the fact that 25(OH)D concentrations fall to a nadir with absence of sun. Maximum concentrations however, differ as SED is correlated to federal state latitude. B. Correlation of latitude of German federal states and average vitamin D status. Abbreviations: BW = Baden-Wuerttemberg, BY = Bavaria, BE = Berlin, BB = Brandenburg, HB = Bremen, HH = Hamburg, HE = Hesse, MV = Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, NI = Lower Saxony, NW = North Rhine-Westphalia, RP = Rhineland-Palatinate, SL = Saarland, SN = Saxony, ST = Saxony-Anhalt, SH = Schleswig-Holstein, TH = Thuringia. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 18. Results were considered statistically significant when a two-tailed p value was less than 0.05. C. Comparison of the size of Germany and USA. As this model was validated for a small geographic region, it becomes obvious that this model could be easily adapted and used for bigger countries such as the USA (PPT 325 kb)

Supplementary material 4 (DOC 131 kb)

Supplementary material 5 (DOCX 28 kb)

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Brown, J., Ignatius, A., Amling, M. et al. New perspectives on vitamin D sources in Germany based on a novel mathematical bottom-up model of 25(OH)D serum concentrations. Eur J Nutr 52, 1733–1742 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-012-0477-3

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