Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NUTRITION
Volume 61, Issue 8, Pages 4001-4014Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s00394-022-02939-3
Keywords
Teenagers; National survey; Vitamin D status; Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D; Calcium intake; Vitamin D intake
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Funding
- IReL Consortium
- Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) under the 2017 Food Institutional Research Measure (FIRM) awards [17F231]
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This study utilized data from a recent national survey to find that Irish teenagers have inadequate intakes of calcium and vitamin D, with 20% at risk of vitamin D deficiency.
Context and purpose In light of the key roles of vitamin D and calcium in adolescent bone health, there is a critical need for representative data on nutritional status for both micronutrients in teenagers. The present work used data from the recent representative National Teens' Food Survey II (2019-2020) to assess calcium and vitamin D intakes of teenagers in Ireland, including adequacy of such intakes, as well as, for the first time, to characterise serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations and their determinants. Methods Usual calcium and vitamin D intake estimates were generated using food intake data (via 4-day weighed food records) from a nationally representative sample of teenagers aged 13-18 years in Ireland (n 428). Serum 25(OH)D was measured (via LC-MS/MS) in the 57.5% (n 246) who provided a blood sample. Results Sixty-seven and 94% of Irish teenagers had intakes of calcium and vitamin D below the respective Estimated Average Requirements values, reflecting a high degree of inadequacy of intake for both micronutrients (and higher in girls than boys; P < 0.001). In addition, 21.7% and 33.1% of teenagers had serum 25(OH)D < 30 nmol/L (risk of vitamin D deficiency) and 30-49.9 nmol/L (inadequacy), respectively. Extended winter sampling, being aged 16-18 years, low total vitamin D intake, being overweight/obese or being of non-white skin type were significant (P < 0.05) predictors of serum 25(OH)D < 30 nmol/L. Conclusions There was a high prevalence of inadequacy of intake of calcium and vitamin D in Irish teenagers, and a fifth were at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.
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