Authors:
Black LJ, Jacoby P, Nowson CA, Daly RM, Lucas RM.
Authors notes:
Nutrients. 2016;8(6).
Keywords:
25-hydroxyvitamin D, Supplements, Vitamin D
Abstract:
Despite concerns about vitamin D deficiency in the Australian population, little is known about the prevalence and predictors of vitamin D-containing supplement use.
We described the use of vitamin D-containing supplements, and investigated associations between supplemental vitamin D intake and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations, using a single 24-h dietary recall from the 2011-2013 Australian Health Survey (n = 12,153; ages ≥ 2 years).
Multiple regression models were used to investigate predictors of vitamin D-containing supplement use in adults, and associations between dose and serum 25(OH)D concentrations/vitamin D sufficiency (≥50 nmol/L), adjusting for potential confounders.
The prevalence of vitamin D-containing supplement use was 10%, 6% and 19% in children, adolescents and adults, respectively.
Predictors of vitamin D-containing supplement use in adults included being female, advancing age, higher educational attainment, higher socio-economic status, not smoking, and greater physical activity.
After adjusting for potential confounders, a 40 IU (1 µg) increase in vitamin D intake from supplements was associated with an increase of 0.41 nmol/L in serum 25(OH)D concentrations.
However, the prevalence of vitamin D-containing supplement use was generally low in the Australian population, particularly for single vitamin D supplements, with most supplement users obtaining only low levels of vitamin D from other supplement types.