Analysis of Usual Consumption of Vitamin D Among Adult Individuals in Italy

Le résumé fourni par la source

The condition of vitamin D deficiency represents a significant public health problem. In Europe, hypovitaminosis is common not only in the elderly population but also between 50 and 70 years, both in males and females. Data regarding vitamin D intake in the Italian population are very limited. In a recent report performed to validate a specific Frequency Food Questionnaire (FFQ), we observed in a small group of healthy subjects that the dietary intake of vitamin D, both in females and males, was far below the average. With the aim of expanding our preliminary data, we conducted a survey on a large cohort of subjects from different areas of Northern, Central, and Southern Italy. The FFQ contained 11 different questions regarding the type and amount of intake of foods containing vitamin D. It was submitted to 870 subjects, 627 females and 243 males, with age ranged from 40 to 80 years; 31.6% of the studied population was apparently in good health, while 68.4% were affected by different pathologies. Present data confirm previous observations: the global amount of vitamin D intakes in 14 days were 70.8 μg + 1.8 (SE) in females and 87.5 μg + 1.9 (SE) in males; the mean daily intakes of vitamin D in females and males were 5.05 μg + 0.17 (SE) and 6.25 μg + 0.21 (SE) for females and males, respectively. In healthy subjects, a gradual decrease was observed in the overall intake of vitamin D in both females and males according to increase in age bracket, ranging from 74.5 μg and 103.8 μg in the 40-50 age group to 54.5 μg and 87.8 μg in the 71-80 age group, respectively. In conclusion, present data collected in a large Italian cohort underscore that the daily intake of vitamin D is far below the recommended daily average, so contributing to the development of potential hypovitaminosis.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.