Virtually all young Koreans had less than 30 ng of vitamin D – 2012

Two articles on this page
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99% of boys and 100% of Korean girls had less than 30 ng of vitamin D

High prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency in young adolescents in Korea

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS 2012, DOI: 10.1007/s00431-012-1746-0 May 2012
Youn Ho Shin, Ki Eun Kim, Choae Lee, Hye Jung Shin, Myung Suh Kang, Hye-Ree Lee and Yong-Jae Lee

Recent studies suggest that vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency is not only a problem of older generations anymore but also an important health concern among younger generations. However, comprehensive data are lacking in Korean adolescents. We investigated the vitamin D (25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D]) status, the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency, and the association between vitamin D levels and insulin resistance and lipid profiles in a sample of 188 Korean adolescents aged 12–13 years who participated in a general health check-up at a tertiary hospital.

Vitamin D deficiency was considered as serum concentrations <20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L);
a level of 21–29 ng/mL (52–72 nmol/L) was considered to indicate vitamin D insufficiency,
whereas a level of 30 ng/mL or greater (>75 nmol/L) was considered sufficient or optimum.
In this cross-sectional study, vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency was found in 98.9 % of boys and 100 % of girls, whereas only 1.1 % of boys and 0 % of girls had a serum 25(OH)D level of greater than 30 ng/mL. In multivariate linear regression analysis, HOMA-IR, triglyceride, and LDL cholesterol were inversely associated with 25(OH)D concentrations.

We found that vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency is a very common health problem in Korean adolescents, particularly in girls, and that serum 25(OH)D levels are inversely associated with insulin resistance and lipid profiles. These results suggest that more time spent in outdoor activity for sunlight exposure and higher vitamin D intake may be needed in younger adolescents in South Korea.
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96 % of Koreans aged 10-40 had less than 30 ng of vitamin D

Gender-Dependent Skeletal Effects of Vitamin D Deficiency in a Younger Generation.

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Mar 22.
Lim JS, Kim KM, Rhee Y, Lim SK.
Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine (J.S.L., K.M.K., Y.R., S.-K.L.); Institute of Endocrine Research (J.S.L., K.M.K., Y.R., S.-K.L.); and Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Sciences (S.-K.L.), Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Korea.

Context:The major health threats caused by vitamin D deficiency in the young generation have not been fully elucidated.

Objective:The aim of this study was to investigate skeletal and nonskeletal effects of vitamin D deficiency and to study the optimal level of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in young people.

Design and Setting:The Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES IV) was conducted in 2008-2009.

Participants:A total of 4276 people (1926 men and 2350 women) aged 10-40 yr were selected from 16 administrative districts of South Korea.

Main Outcome Measures:We measured age-specific changes in bone mineral density (BMD) according to serum 25(OH)D.

Results:Serum 25(OH)D was less than 25 nmol/liter in 18.8% of participants, 25 to less than 50 nmol/liter in 50.0%, 50 to less than 75 nmol/liter in 27.0%, and 75 nmol/liter or greater in 4.2%. Vitamin D deficiency was more frequent in women than in men. There were gender differences in the skeletal effects of vitamin D deficiency. In men between 10 and 22 yr old, BMD was significantly higher in the vitamin D-sufficient group, and in men between 23 and 40 yr old, a positive correlation between serum 25(OH)D and BMD was observed.

However, in women, we could not find significant differences in BMD according to vitamin D status.
Vitamin D deficiency in younger generations had no remarkable effects on most nonskeletal parameters or on the prevalence of concomitant diseases except for rheumatoid arthritis.

Conclusions:Vitamin D plays an essential role in skeletal health of young people.
Moreover, the presence of gender-dependent skeletal effects was an important observation of this study.
Reassurance of serum 25(OH)D up to 20-30 ng/ml or higher is necessary, especially during the modeling phase in men.

PMID: 22442269

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See also Vitamin D Life

• Overview Deficiency of vitamin D
• All items in category Youth and Vitamin D 148 items
• All items: Deficiency of Vitamin D 363 items
• Korean teens more likely to be obese if have less than 18 ng of vitamin D – June 2012
• Vitamin D insufficiency in UK youths – 37X more likely if dark skin – July 2011
• UK elderly need vitamin D – 86 % less than 30 ng - Jan 2010
• 90 % of Canadian youth less than 30 ng vitamin D – Oct 2010
• Doubling of people less than 30 ng of vitamin D - 75% of whites and 90% of blacks – Feb 2010
• Virtually all Chinese teens at 30 degree N have <30 ng of vitamin D – Feb 2012
  Note: Korea gets less sun: at 35 degrees North
• 9X increase in Koreans seeking help with vitamin D deficiency in just 4 years – Jan 2015