Probably > 80% of Australians have <30 ng of vitamin D as of 2012.

• Report (below) in 2000 found that 73% had <30 ng of vitamin D

(Vitamin D deficiency global epidemic has been getting steadily worse since it started about 40 years ago

+CLICK HERE for: 2X more people have less than 30 ng of vitamin D in a decade – Feb 2010+Even worse for the obese, elderly, women, those further from equator, and those with dark skins.

Short blog post of this web page

Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its determinants in Australian adults aged 25 years and older: A national, population-based study.

Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2011 Dec 15. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2011.04320.x.
Daly RM, Gagnon C, Lu ZX, Magliano DJ, Dunstan DW, Sikaris KA, Zimmet PZ, Ebeling PR, Shaw JE.
Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne Department of Medicine, NorthWest Academic Centre, University of Melbourne, Western Hospital, Melbourne Centre de recherche du CHUQ, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada Melbourne Pathology, Melbourne Department of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA.

Objective:? Vitamin D deficiency is recognised as a global public health problem, but the population-based prevalence of deficiency and its determinants in Australian adults is not known. This study evaluated the vitamin D status of Australian adults aged ?25 years, and risk factors associated with vitamin D deficiency in this population.

Design and Patients:? We studied a national sample of 11,247 Australian adults enrolled in the 1999/2000 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) study drawn from 42 randomly selected districts throughout Australia. Measurements:?
Serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D 25(OH)D were measured by immunoassay. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as a concentration <50 nmol/L.
Information on demographic and lifestyle factors were derived from interview-administered questionnaires.

Results:? The mean serum 25(OH)D concentration was 63 nmol/L (95% CI: 59-67 nmol/L).
Only 4% of the population had a level <25 nmol/L, but the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<50 nmol/L) was 31% (22% men; 39% women);
73% had levels <75 nmol/L.
The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency

• increased significantly with age,
• was greater in women,
• in those of non-Europid origin,
• in the obese and
• those who were physically inactive and
• with a higher level of education.

Deficiency was also more common

• during winter and
• in people residing in southern Australia (latitude >35°S);
• 42% of women and 27% of men were deficient during summer-autumn,
  which increased to 58% and 35%, respectively, during winter-spring.

Conclusion:? Vitamin D deficiency is common in Australia affecting nearly one-third of adults aged ?25 years.
This indicates that strategies are needed at the population level to the improve vitamin D status of Australians. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

PMID: 22168576
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Highlights cliped from HealthCanal using deficient = 20 ng

• 26 % of women aged 25-34 years were deficient
• 57 % of women over 75 years and over were deficient
• People of non-European origin were 4-5 X more likely to be deficient
• Those who were obese and physically inactive were about 2X more likely to be deficient
• Even worse in Winter 58 % winter, vs 42% summer (Women in Southern states)

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See also Vitamin D Life

• Majority of those living in the ozone hole lack vitamin D blog post March 2012
• Overview Deficiency of vitamin D
• Overview Seniors and Vitamin D
• Overview Dark Skin and Vitamin D
• Many reasons why vitamin D deficiency has become epidemic 12 new reasons
• RCT confirms that Australians need at least 2000 IU vitamin D – Dec 2012
• All items in Category Deficiency 363 items
• All items in category Australia and NZ 62 items
• 90 % of Canadian youth less than 30 ng vitamin D – Oct 2010
• 90 % of young health care professionals had less than 30 ngof vitamin D – Nov 2011
• 87 % of Tennessee general medicine patients had less than 32 ng of vitamin D – Jan 2011
• 86 % of UK elderly less than 30 ng - Jan 2010
• 82 % of African immigrants to Melborne had less than 20 ng of vitamin D
• 82 % of black US adults less than 20 ng of vitamin D – Jan 2011
• 80 % of teens in Europe had less than 30 ng of vitamin D – Aug 2011
• 79 % of middle aged Americans had less than 32 ng of vitamin D – July 2010
• 75 % of children in NE US had less than 20 ng of vitamin D in winter – Dec 2011
• Vitamin D <20 ng in UK youths – 37X more likely if dark skin – July 2011
• Cancer patients 64% less likely to die if have high level of vitamin D – Dec 2011
• “Sunlight Officers” in some Australian senior facilities – Sept 2011
• 10X increase in vitamin D tests in Australia – time for the doctors to learn about vitamin D – April 2011
• Most Australian GPs still believe the myth than 10 minutes of sun a day is enough – June 2011
• Huge increase in food allergies in Australia may be due to low vitamin D
• Vitamin D deficiency and testing in Australia are epidemics - Aug 2011
• New Zealand consensus statement: take more Vitamin D – March 2012 in 2009 32% had less than 20 nanograms
• Vitamin D Recommendations which has the following graph of recommendations

Note: ALL 25 of the recommendations are greater than the 20 ng recommended by govts of Australia and the US

This decrease was augmented by the Australian Slip-Slop-Slap campaign to keep away from the sun

The campaign did reduce skin cancer, but has increased by at least 100X the medical problems due to lowered vitamin D, including, ironically, melanoma

CLICK ON chart for more information

Australia Vitamin D IU recommendations last updated in 2006

Now US = 3X Australia, but both are far less than what is needed for health

Notes
Adequate Intake (AI): established when evidence is insufficient to develop an RDA and is set at a level assumed to ensure nutritional adequacy
It appears no country has a recommendation less than Australia at 200 IU
Australia had been tied with Germany for 200 IU, but Germany increased recommendation to 800 IU in Jan 2012

CLICK HERE for more information or see PDF attached to the bottom of this page

CLICK HERE for Vitamin D Life blog of IU recommendations from around the world - Jan 2012, such as

• 300 IU Finland RDA – 2011 includes differences for age, pregnancy, UL,
• 800 IU Germany increased from 200 IU - Jan 2012
• 800 IU European Menopause Group – Jan 2012
• 800 IU: Cochrane – decreased mortality by 6 percent – July 2011
• 1340 IU avg daily vitamin D during pregnancy helped some – Jan 2012
• 1600 IU daily Vitamin D raised adult blood levels above 20 ng – RCT Nov 2011
• 1650 IU avg daily helped those lacking sun – Jan 2012
• 2000 IU Linus Pauling Institute – 2011
• 2000 IU improved telomeres for obese blacks – Oct 2011
• 2000+ IU needed by people with no UV for 6 months in the winter – April 2011
• 2000 IU resulted in 7X less diabetes in children

Vitamin D for most regions of the world include Australia

Rectangle = population-based study: Australia has 32-40 nmol = 13 to 16 ng

References for Australia:

• 53. Flicker L, Mead K, MacInnis RJ et al. Serum vitamin D and falls in older women in residential care in Australia. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2003; 51: 1533-1538.
• 54. Lucas JA, Bolland MJ, Grey AB et al. Determinants of vitamin D status in older women living in a subtropical climate. Osteoporosis International 2005; 16: 1641-1648.
• 55. Bolland MJ, Grey AB, Ames RW et al. Determinants of vitamin D status in older men living in a subtropical climate. Osteoporosis International 2006; 17: 1742-1748.
• 56. van der Mei I, Ponsonby AL, Engelsen O et al. The high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency across Australian populations is only partly explained by season and latitude. Environmental Health Perspectives 2007; 115: 1132-1139.
• 58. Vu LH, Whiteman DC, van der Pols JC et al. Serum vitamin d levels in office workers in a subtropical climate. Photochemistry and Photobiology 2011; 87: 714-720.