Vitamin D status and the prevalence of deficiency in lactating women from eight provinces and municipalities in China

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 12; no. 3; p. e0174378
• Main Authors: Zhao, Yao, Yu, Yingjie, Li, Hong, Chang, Zhirong, Li, Yongjin, Duan, Yifan, Wang, Jie, Jiang, Shan, Yang, Zhenyu, Yin, Shi-An
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 23.03.2017; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; Adult; Biology and life sciences; China - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Demographics; Diagnosis; Earth Sciences; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Lactation; Lactation - blood; Medicine and health sciences; Minority & ethnic groups; Municipalities; Nutrition; People and Places; Physical sciences; Postpartum; Prevalence; Preventive medicine; Radioimmunoassay; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Seasons; Social Sciences; Surveys; Vitamin D; Vitamin D - analogs & derivatives; Vitamin D - blood; Vitamin D deficiency; Vitamin D Deficiency - blood; Vitamin D Deficiency - epidemiology; Vitamin deficiency; Women; Womens health; Young Adult; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174378

Vitamin D deficiency has become prevalent worldwide in recent years. However, less evidence was available for lactating women. The purpose of the study was to understand vitamin D status and prevalence of deficiency in lactating women and associated risk factors for vitamin D deficiency from eight provinces and municipalities in China. Lactating women within 1-10 months postpartum were recruited in 2011-2013 from eight provinces and municipalities in China. Radioimmunoassay was used to measure serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration. Standardized questionnaire was used to collect information on season, living site, ethnicity and socio-demographic characteristics. Totally 2004 lactating women were recruited. The median (p25, p75) of 25(OH)D was 15.8 (10.5, 24.0) nmol/L. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 85.3% as 25(OH)D <30nmol/L. Serum 25(OH)D levels of lactating women were significantly lower during October-January (14.0nmol/L) than during February-May (18.0nmol/L) (P<0.001), and were significantly higher in Dai ethnicity (22.5nmol/L) than in Hui ethnicity (Chinese Muslims) (9.0nmol/L) (P<0.001). For every 10,000 CNY annual income per capita increasing, serum 25(OH)D levels significantly increased 1.04 times (P<0.001). The odds of vitamin D deficiency in winter were 2.56 times higher than that in spring (OR 2.56, 95%CI: 1.91-3.43). Vitamin D deficiency of lactating women was highly prevalent in the eight provinces and municipalities in China. It is urgent to study the strategy and intervention ways for improving vitamin D status of lactating women, especially for certain population groups during low sunlight exposure season.