Current vitamin D status in European and Middle East countries and strategies to prevent vitamin D deficiency: a position statement of the European Calcified Tissue Society
- Lips, Paul 1Endocrine Section, Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Center, VUMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Cashman, Kevin D 2Cork Centre for Vitamin D and Nutrition Research, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Department of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
- Lamberg-Allardt, Christel 3Calcium Research Unit, Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Bischoff-Ferrari, Heike Annette 4Department of Geriatrics and Aging Research, University Hospital and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Obermayer-Pietsch, Barbara 5Division of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria
- Bianchi, Maria Luisa 6Bone Metabolism Unit, Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Milano, Italy
- Stepan, Jan 7Institute of Rheumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- El-Hajj Fuleihan, Ghada 8Calcium Metabolism and Osteoporosis Program, WHO Collaborating Center for Metabolic Bone Disorders, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
- Bouillon, Roger 9Clinic and Laboratory of Endocrinology, Gasthuisberg, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Published in:
- European Journal of Endocrinology. - Bioscientifica. - 2019, vol. 180, no. 4, p. P23-P54
English
Vitamin D deficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) <50 nmol/L or 20 ng/mL) is common in Europe and the Middle East. It occurs in <20% of the population in Northern Europe, in 30–60% in Western, Southern and Eastern Europe and up to 80% in Middle East countries. Severe deficiency (serum 25(OH)D <30 nmol/L or 12 ng/mL) is found in >10% of Europeans. The European Calcified Tissue Society (ECTS) advises that the measurement of serum 25(OH)D be standardized, for example, by the Vitamin D Standardization Program. Risk groups include young children, adolescents, pregnant women, older people (especially the institutionalized) and non-Western immigrants. Consequences of vitamin D deficiency include mineralization defects and lower bone mineral density causing fractures. Extra-skeletal consequences may be muscle weakness, falls and acute respiratory infection, and are the subject of large ongoing clinical trials. The ECTS advises to improve vitamin D status by food fortification and the use of vitamin D supplements in risk groups. Fortification of foods by adding vitamin D to dairy products, bread and cereals can improve the vitamin D status of the whole population, but quality assurance monitoring is needed to prevent intoxication. Specific risk groups such as infants and children up to 3 years, pregnant women, older persons and non-Western immigrants should routinely receive vitamin D supplements. Future research should include genetic studies to better define individual vulnerability for vitamin D deficiency, and Mendelian randomization studies to address the effect of vitamin D deficiency on long-term non-skeletal outcomes such as cancer.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- bronze
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1530/eje-18-0736
- ISSN 0804-4643
- Persistent URL
- https://susi.usi.ch/global/documents/167400
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