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Longitudinal associations between lifestyle and vitamin D: A general population study with repeated vitamin D measurements

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Abstract

Several lifestyle factors have been found to be associated with vitamin D status in cross-sectional studies, but it is not clear whether a change in these factors can actually affect the vitamin D level. We investigated the association between repeated measurements of physical activity, body mass index (BMI), diet, alcohol consumption, and smoking habits, and corresponding levels of vitamin D during 5 years of follow-up of a large general population sample. We included 4185 persons who participated and had vitamin D (serum-25-hydroxyvitamin D, 25-OH-D) measurements in the Inter99 study at baseline (1999–2001) and 5-year follow-up. In a subsample, 25-OH-D was also measured at 1- and 3-year follow-ups. We used mixed models to examine the association between repeated measurements of lifestyle factors and 25-OH-D levels. In multivariable analyses of repeated measurements, the difference in 25-OH-D was −0.32 ng/ml (95 % CI −0.37, −0.28) per 1 kg/m2 increase in BMI; 4.50 ng/ml (95 % CI 3.84, 5.15) for persons moderately/vigorously physically active versus sedentary; 1.82 ng/ml (95 % CI 1.09, 2.56) for persons with healthy versus unhealthy dietary habits; 0.05 ng/ml (95 % CI 0.03, 0.07) per 1 standard drink/weak increase in alcohol consumption; and 0.86 ng/ml (95 % CI 0.36, 1.35) for never smokers versus daily smokers. Our study shows that lower BMI, a higher level of physical activity, a healthier diet and possibly a higher alcohol intake, and not smoking, are associated with higher 25-OH-D levels.

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Acknowledgments

The present study was financially supported by the Health Insurance Foundation (Grant No. 2010 B 131). We would like to thank the participants and all members of the Inter99 staff at Research Centre for Prevention and Health. The Inter99 study was initiated by Torben Jørgensen, DMSci (principal investigator); Knut Borch-Johnsen, DMSci, (co-principal investigator); Troels Thomsen, PhD; and Hans Ibsen, DMSci. The Steering Committee comprises Torben Jørgensen and Charlotta Pisinger, PhD, MPH.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest

Ethical standards

The study was approved by the local Ethics Committees and the Danish Data Protection Agency, participants gave their informed written consent, and the recommendations of the Declaration of Helsinki were followed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Capital Region of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Tea Skaaby, Lise Lotte Nystrup Husemoen, Betina Heinsbæk Thuesen, Charlotta Pisinger, Torben Jørgensen & Allan Linneberg

  2. Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    Anke Hannemann

  3. Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Torben Jørgensen & Allan Linneberg

  4. Faculty of Medicine, Alborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Torben Jørgensen

  5. Department of Clinical Experimental Research, Rigshospitalet, Glostrup, Denmark

    Allan Linneberg

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  1. Tea Skaaby
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  2. Lise Lotte Nystrup Husemoen
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Correspondence to Tea Skaaby.

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Skaaby, T., Husemoen, L.L.N., Thuesen, B.H. et al. Longitudinal associations between lifestyle and vitamin D: A general population study with repeated vitamin D measurements. Endocrine 51, 342–350 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-015-0641-7

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