Vitamin D deficiency rates cause for concern

Almost one-third of adults over the age of 25 have a Vitamin D deficiency, a new study evaluating the Vitamin D status of Australian adults has found. The paper is the largest study of its kind, drawing on 11,218 people from the AusDiab Study and includes Australians from Darwin to Hobart. Professor of Medicine (Assistant Dean) and Chair of the NorthWest Academic Centre, Western Section, the University of Melbourne and study author, Professor Peter Ebeling said the findings showed strategies were now needed to improve Vitamin D awareness. Vitamin D is necessary for optimal health as it helps prevent falls in the elderly and, together with calcium, prevents fractures due to osteoporosis, including hip fractures. Earlier work from this group has also shown that low vitamin D levels are associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The overall prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<50 nmol/L) was 31% with women being more commonly affected (39% vs 23% in men, overall). When evaluated by season and latitude, 42% of women and 27% of men in southern Australia during summer/autumn had deficient levels, which increased to 58% and 35% in women and men, respectively, during winter/spring.