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Older age and lower adiposity predict better 25-hydroxy vitamin D concentration in Inuit adults: International Polar Year Inuit Health Survey, 2007–2008

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Abstract

Summary

Our aim was to determine the prevalence and correlates of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration in Inuit adults. Low 25(OH)D concentration (<50 nmol/L) was common; the strongest positive predictors were older age and healthy waist circumference. Nutritional health promotion and interventions along with longitudinal nutritional assessments are needed.

Purpose

While 25(OH)D concentration of Canadian Inuit has not been examined on a large scale, Nutrition Canada Survey (1973) suggested that Inuit have low intakes of vitamin D. Our main purpose was to determine the prevalence and correlates of 25(OH)D concentration in a recent Inuit Health Survey.

Methods

Inuit adults (≥18 years) participated in the 2007–2008 International Polar Year Inuit Health Survey conducted in the months of August to October. Households were selected randomly in 36 communities. Dietary intake was assessed using a 24-h recall and a food frequency questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements, household living conditions, supplement use, and health status were assessed. In fasting samples, serum 25(OH)D and parathyroid hormone were measured using chemiluminesent assays (Diasorin, Liaison).

Results

Of the 2,595 participants, serum 25(OH)D was available on 2,207, of whom 67.4% and 42.2% had concentrations below 75 and 50 nmol/L, respectively. Further, 27.2% had values <37.5 nmol/L. Older adults (≥51 years) consumed higher quantities of traditional food and consequently had higher vitamin D intake than younger adults (18–30 and 31–50 years) (p < 0.05). The strongest positive predictors of 25(OH)D (≥50 or 75 nmol/L) among Inuit adults were older age and healthy waist circumference.

Conclusions

This is the first population assessment of dietary vitamin D and 25(OH)D concentration in Inuit adults. The high prevalence of suboptimal 25(OH)D concentration noted in the late summer and early fall raises concerns of greater prevalence and more severe inadequacies in the winter.

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Abbreviations

AI:

Adequate intake

ALTM:

All-laboratory trimmed mean

BMI:

Body mass index

CCGS:

Canadian Coast Guard Ship

CI:

Confidence interval

DEQAS:

Vitamin D external quality assessment scheme

EAR:

Estimated average requirement

FFQ:

Food frequency questionnaire

IOM:

Institute of medicine

IQR:

Interquartile range

ISR:

Inuvaluit settlement region

MF:

Market foods

PTH:

Parathyroid hormone

PC-SIDE:

Personal computer version of the software for intake distribution estimation

RDA:

Recommended dietary allowance

SD:

Standard deviation

TF:

Traditional foods

UVB:

Ultraviolet beta

25(OH)D:

25-Hydroxy vitamin D

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mrs. Nelofar Athar Sheikh for her contribution in the data management and statistical advice, Miss Zhirong Cao for her assistance in statistical analysis, Mrs. Louise Johnson-Down for her assistance in the analysis of the dietary data, and Mrs. Sherry Agellon for her help with the measurements of 25(OH)D and PTH concentrations.

This study was supported by the Canadian Federal Program for International Polar Year, Canadian Institutes for Health Research, ArcticNet, Government of Nunavut, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, and Health Canada.

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None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada

    Jessy El Hayek, Grace Egeland & Hope Weiler

  2. Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9, Canada

    Jessy El Hayek, Grace Egeland & Hope Weiler

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Correspondence to Hope Weiler.

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El Hayek, J., Egeland, G. & Weiler, H. Older age and lower adiposity predict better 25-hydroxy vitamin D concentration in Inuit adults: International Polar Year Inuit Health Survey, 2007–2008. Arch Osteoporos 6, 167–177 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11657-011-0062-z

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