Vitamin D deficiency: A global epidemic

"We estimate that vitamin D deficiency is the most common medical condition in the world."
- Dr. Michael F. Holick, vitamin D expert

Vitamin D deficiency is a world-wide epidemic, 1 2 3 with recent estimates indicating greater than 50% of the global population is at risk. 4

A high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been found across all age groups in all populations studied in countries around the globe. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Even those who are otherwise healthy are not immune to deficiency. 10 20 21 22

In addition, the scope of vitamin D deficiency is actually far greater than the numbers indicate. Published estimates and studies grossly underestimate the extent of the problem as a result of using an outdated 25(OH)D threshold (cut off point) of 30 ng/mL (70 nmol/L) for determining deficiency.

Recent evidence reveals beneficial effects of vitamin D at serum levels around 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L) 23 24 25 or higher - effects not seen at levels below 40 ng/mL (120 nmol/L), indicating a need for upward revision of the deficiency reference threshold.

Based on the data, it is reasonable to assume that, should the threshold for vitamin D deficiency be raised to a level of 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L), the percentage of the population determined to be deficient would most-likely be closer to 90% or greater.

Page last edited: 05 October 2011

References

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