Two-Thirds of U.S. Residents Get Sufficient Vitamin D

WEDNESDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- About two-thirds of the U.S. population takes in sufficient amounts of vitamin D, but 8 percent may be at risk for vitamin D deficiency, according to a March data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

Anne C. Looker, Ph.D., of the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues report the latest data on vitamin D status in the U.S. population based on four categories recently defined by the Institute of Medicine according to serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels: risk of deficiency; risk of inadequacy; sufficiency; and above, for which there may be reason for concern.

The researchers determined that, between 2001 and 2006, 67 percent of the population aged 1 year and older had sufficient 25(OH)D levels, while about a quarter were at risk of vitamin D inadequacy and 8 percent were at risk for deficiency. Also, 1 percent had a high serum 25(OH)D level that could be harmful. Deficiencies were less common in younger, male, and non-Hispanic white individuals. In women, risk for deficiency was lower in those who were pregnant or lactating.

"The risk of vitamin D deficiency increased between 1988 to 1994 and 2001 to 2002 in both sexes but did not change between 2001 to 2002 and 2005 to 2006," the researchers write.

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