Vitamin D status among indigenous Mayan (Kekchi) and Afro-Caribe (Garifuna) adolescents from Guatemala: a comparative description between two ethnic groups residing on the Rio Dulce at the Caribbean coast in Izabal Province, Guatemala

• Published in: Public health nutrition Vol. 20; no. 10; pp. 1729 - 1737
• Main Authors: Naqvi, Ali, Solomons, Noel W, Campos, Raquel, Soto-Méndez, María José, Caplan, Emily, Armas, Laura, Bermudez, Odilia I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.07.2017
• Subjects: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; Adolescent; Adolescents; Aging; Anthropometry; Caribbean Region; Coastal environments; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Dietary supplements; Dry season; Ethnicity - statistics & numerical data; Exposure; Female; Guatemala; Humans; Male; Metabolism; Minority & ethnic groups; Monitoring and Surveillance; Multivariate analysis; Nutrition Surveys - statistics & numerical data; Pigmentation; Population; Protective clothing; Public health; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Research Papers; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Sex; Side effects; Skin; Skin pigmentation; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Studies; Sun; Sunlight; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - analogs & derivatives; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin deficiency; Guatemala; Caribbean Region; Caribbean area; Rio Dulce; Guatemala; Skin pigmentation; Sunlight exposure; Vitamin D; Adolescents
• ISSN: 1368-9800; 1475-2727
• DOI: 10.1017/S1368980016000598

To assess vitamin D status and the influence of risk factors such as skin pigmentation and time spent outdoors on hypovitaminosis D among Guatemalan Kekchi and Garifuna adolescents. Cross-sectional study, with convenient sampling design. Blood samples, anthropometric and behavioural data were all collected during the dry season. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations were measured by RIA. Communities of Rio Dulce and Livingston, Izabal Province, Caribbean coast of Guatemala, with latitude and longitude of 15°49'N and 88°45'W for Livingston and 15°46'N and 88°49'W for Rio Dulce, respectively. Eighty-six adolescents, divided evenly by sex and ethnicity, with mean age of 14 years. Mean (sd) 25(OH)D value was 27·8 (7·2) ng/ml for the total group, with 25·8 (5·9) and 29·8 (7·9) ng/ml, respectively, in Kekchis and Garifunas (P=0·01). Use of vitamin D supplementation, clothing practices and sun protection were not statistically different between groups. Skin area exposed on the day of data collection ranged from 20·0 % minimum to 49·4 % maximum, with mean (sd) exposure of 32·0 (8.5) %. With univariate regression analysis, age (P=0·034), sex (P=0·044), ethnicity (P=0·010), time spent outdoors (P=0·006) and percentage skin area exposed (P=0·001) were predictive. However, multivariate analysis indicated that only sex (P=0·034) and percentage skin area exposed (P=0·044) remained as predictors of 25(OH)D. Despite residing in an optimal geographic location for sunlight exposure, nearly 65 % of study adolescents were either insufficient or deficient in vitamin D. Correction and long-term prevention of this nutritional problem may be instrumental in avoiding adverse effects in adulthood attributed to low 25(OH)D during adolescence.