Vitamin D insufficiency in a sunny environment: a demographic and seasonal analysis.

Isr Med Assoc J. 2010 Dec;12(12):751-6.
Oren Y, Shapira Y, Agmon-Levin N, Kivity S, Zafrir Y, Altman A, Lerner A, Shoenfeld Y.
Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.

BACKGROUND: Hypovitaminosis D has been shown to be extremely common in various regions around the world, mostly at high latitudes. Israel is characterized by certain features - cultural (e.g., ethnic isolates) and geographic (e.g., sunny climate) - that have been identified for their possible association with vitamin D status.

OBJECTIVES: To conduct an ecological study on a representative sample of the population of Israel, testing vitamin D status across age groups, genders, ethnic groups, and seasons.

METHODS: We obtained serum samples from 195 heaIthy Israeli volunteers representing a broad demographic spectrum. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D were measured with the commercial kit Liaison 25(OH)D Assay (DiaSorin, Italy).

RESULTS: The mean vitamin D level for the entire cohort was surprisingly low (22.9 +/- 10.1 ng/ml), with 149 subjects (78%) suffering from vitamin D insufficiency (< 30 ng/lml). Vitamin D status was better in infants than in olderage groups. Differences by gender were significant only inthe infant age group (i.e., vitamin D status was worse among females) and were not prominent across older ages. Israelis of Ashkenazi origin had higher vitamin D mean levels than those of Sephardic origin, who, in turn, had higher vitamin D levels than Arab subjects (31.4 +/- 12, 24.1 +/- 10, and 17.6 +/- 9 ng/ml respectively). With regard to season, there were no differences between the samples collected in winter and the samples collected in summer.

CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that hypovitaminosis D is common across all ages, genders and seasons in Israel, a country characterized by a sunny Mediterranean climate. Specific ethnic groups may be at especially high risk. PMID: 21348404

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See also Vitamin D Life

• Arabs have even lower levels of vitamin D than Jews in sunny Israel – Feb 2012
• Low vitamin D in yet another sunny country-Thailand - March 2015
• High Prevalence of Vitamin D Insufficiency in Athletes and Dancers in Israel
• Ultra-orthodox jews also suffer from 10 ng vitamin D levels – Nov 2010 clothing restricts access to the sun
• Arab pre-term infants often have less than 10 ng of vitamin D - 2010 also a very sunny climate
• Air Conditioning probably has decreased vitamin D from a book
• Overview Deficiency of vitamin D
• Doubling of people less than 30 ng of vitamin D - 75% of whites and 90% of blacks – Feb 2010
• Even in Sunny Areas, Vitamin D Intake Often Too Low - May 2010
• Less than 4 ng is more common in Saudis than diabetic Saudis – July 2010
• Teens increasingly indoors - especially if dark skin - July 2010
• Parkinson disease increased in Israel by 50 percent in 7 years – June 2011
• All items in Middle East and Vitamin D 132 items

US NHANES 2006 data is very similar