DIETARY VITAMIN D INTAKE BY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the dietary intake of vitamin D in winter (February-March) by the high school students in the region of Varna. For this purpose, 135 12th-class high school students were interviewed. The frequency of their consumption of foods, delivering vitamin D, their lifestyle, including time spent outdoor and physical activity in the open area were investigated. Data of the primarily conducted analysis such as descriptive statistics are presents and the trends of the explored problem are de- scribed. The best nutritional source of vitamin D3 is fish. The results from the interviews show that only 16,7% of the interviewed students consume fish `2 times or more often per week`, which is the recommendation. More than a half of them (55%) consume fish so rarely that they are in a group with higher risk of hypovitaminosis D during the winter. The low consumption of fish by adolescents in- creases the risk of hypovitaminosis D and other socially significant diseases. The optimization of the dietary intake of vitamin D in students would be a good strategy for alimentary long term prevention of diabetes mellitus, hyper- tension and some oncological diseases. Fish, as the best nutritional source of vitamin D, has to present in the menu of people from all ages, especially during the winter.