Prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency in Korean adolescents: association with age, season and parental vitamin D status

• Published in: Public health nutrition Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 122 - 130
• Main Authors: Kim, Shin Hye, Oh, Min Kyung, Namgung, Ran, Park, Mi Jung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.01.2014
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Age; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Body Weight; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes; Epidemiology; Exercise; Female; General aspects; Health surveillance; Households; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Monitoring and Surveillance; Multivariate Analysis; Nutrition; Nutrition Surveys; Obesity; Offspring; Overweight; Prevalence; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Regression analysis; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Risk Factors; Seasons; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - epidemiology; Vitamin deficiency; Asia; Korea; Republic of Korea; United States > US; South Korea; Adolescents; Vitamin D deficiency; Human; Prevalence; Parent; Deficiency; Nutrition disorder; Epidemiology; Vitamin D; Seasonal variation; Adolescent; Cholecalciferol(25-hydroxy); Age; Nutritional status
• ISSN: 1368-9800; 1475-2727
• DOI: 10.1017/S1368980012004703

We aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of vitamin D deficiency in healthy adolescents and to determine parent-adolescent association in vitamin D status. A cross-sectional study. Data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2008-2009. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels were measured using 125I-labelled RIA kits. Vitamin D deficiency in adolescents was defined as 25(OH)D level <27·5 nmol/l, and 25(OH)D levels between 27·5 and <50 nmol/l were considered insufficient. For the parents, vitamin D deficiency was defined as 25(OH)D level <50 nmol/l. The study population consisted of 2062 adolescents (1095 boys, 967 girls; aged 10-18 years) and their parents (1005 fathers, 1341 mothers). Overall, 13·4% of adolescents (boys 11·7%, girls 15·4%) were 25(OH)D deficient, 54·7% were 25(OH)D insufficient. Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency increased with age (P < 0·0001). Parental vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent in vitamin D-deficient adolescents than in non-deficient adolescents (all P < 0·0001). In multivariate logistic regression analyses, predictors for vitamin D deficiency were senior high school students (OR = 3·45-4·33), winter/spring season (OR = 3·18-5·11/5·35-7·36) and parental vitamin D deficiency (OR = 1·78-4·88; all P < 0·05). Vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent among healthy Korean adolescents and the parent-offspring association warrants vitamin D screening for family members of deficient individuals.