Vitamin D insufficiency among free-living healthy young adults

Am J Med. 2002 Jun 1;112(8):659-62. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9343(02)01091-4.

Abstract

Long-term vitamin D insufficiency can cause secondary hyperparathyroidism and osteomalacia (1). In addition, there is increasing evidence that vitamin D may protect against common cancers, such as cancer of the colon (–4), prostate (5), and breast (6). Young adults aged 17 to 35 years drink inadequate amounts of milk (7) and are concerned about exposure to the sun because of the fear of developing skin cancer (8,9), which increases the risk of vitamin D insufficiency (10). We sought to examine the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in a group of free-living healthy young adults, consisting of mostly health care professionals, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Boston / epidemiology
  • Cattle
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Diet
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Milk
  • Parathyroid Hormone / blood*
  • Seasons
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Vitamin D / analogs & derivatives*
  • Vitamin D / blood*
  • Vitamin D Deficiency / blood*
  • Vitamin D Deficiency / epidemiology

Substances

  • Parathyroid Hormone
  • Vitamin D
  • 25-hydroxyvitamin D