Cent Eur J Public Health 2012, 20(4):262-269 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a3749

Vitamin D Status and Health Correlates among Apparently Healthy Participants in an Urban, Sunny Region

Natalia Vallianou1, Vassiliki Bountziouka2, Thanasis Akalestos3, Angelos Evangelopoulos3, Evangelos Vogiatzakis1, Maria Bonou1, John Barbetseas1, Peter C. Avgerinos1, Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos2
1 General Hospital of Athens "Polykliniki", Athens, Greece
2 Department of Science of Dietetics-Nutrition, Harokopio University of Athens, Athens, Greece
3 Roche Diagnostics (Hellas) S.A, Athens, Greece

Aim: To assess vitamin D status and health correlates in a sample of apparently healthy Caucasian participants residing in an urban area, Athens, with latitude 370 58' 0'' N and longitude 230 43' 0'' E, after taking into consideration a broad range of purported biological, behavioural and environmental factors.

Method: Men and women 35+ years from a selected population (n=490) were studied. Participants completed a detailed questionnaire regarding socio-demographic, lifestyle, clinical and dietary characteristics. Biomarkers were measured after 12 h fasting. Linear and multinomial regression models were used to evaluate the association between 25(OH)D and determinants of vitamin D status.

Results: Results revealed that one hour increase of sunlight exposure decreased the odds of having D deficiency (i.e., <20 ng/mL) by 70% (OR=0.30, 95% CI: 0.20-0.45), adjusted for age, sex, family status, physical activity, smoking habits, BMI, triglycerides, parathyroid hormone, uric acid, haptoglobin, folate acid and haemoglobin, as compared to sufficient levels (i.e., >30 ng/mL). Regarding biomarkers, parathyroid hormone and haptoglobin were found to be related with the odds of having vitamin D deficiency (OR=1.11, 95% CI: 1.05-1.16; OR=1.02, 95% CI: 1.00-1.03, respectively) as compared to the sufficient levels.

Conclusions: Sufficient serum vitamin D levels were observed among participants with characteristics associated with reduced cardiovascular risk, such as normal BMI, increased physical activity, decreased parathyroid hormone and decreased inflammatory markers. Even a slight increase in sunlight exposure could have beneficial effects on serum vitamin D concentrations and eventually on haemoglobin and inflammatory markers levels, thus providing a simple and inexpensive lifestyle intervention that promotes public health.

Keywords: vitamin D, sunshine, inflammation, cardiovascular risk, haemoglobin

Received: December 3, 2011; Revised: October 12, 2012; Accepted: October 12, 2012; Published: December 1, 2012  Show citation

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Vallianou N, Bountziouka V, Akalestos T, Evangelopoulos A, Vogiatzakis E, Bonou M, et al.. Vitamin D Status and Health Correlates among Apparently Healthy Participants in an Urban, Sunny Region. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2012;20(4):262-269. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a3749. PubMed PMID: 23441390.
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