Abstract
PurposePopulations living in the Nordic countries are at high risk for vitamin D (VitD) deficiency or insufficiency. To reduce the risk, nationwide interventions based on food fortification and supplementation are being implemented. However, there is limited evidence about the impact of such public health campaigns on target populations.MethodsWe studied an unselected sample of 3650 participants (56.2% females) from the longitudinal Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 with repeated measures of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] at ages 31 (1997) and 46 (2012–2013). Timepoints corresponded to the period before and during the food fortification. We examined the effect of VitD intake from the diet and supplementation, body mass index and previous 25(OH)D concentration on 25(OH)D concentration at 46 years using a multivariable linear regression analysis. A 25(OH)D z score adjusted for sex, season, latitude and technical effect was used in the analysis.ResultsWe observed an increase of 10.6 nmol/L in 25(OH)D, when the baseline 25(OH)D was 54.3 nmol/L. The prevalence of serum 25(OH)D below < 50 nmol/L was halved. The changes were found for both sexes and were more pronounced in winter compared to summer months. Regular VitD supplementation had a significant positive effect on 25(OH)D at the age of 46, as well as had the dietary intake of fortified dairy products and fish, and the previous 25(OH)D concentration. However, the intake of fat-spreads albeit VitD-fortified, did not predict 25(OH)D.ConclusionOur results demonstrated the positive impact of the fortification programme on VitD status in middle-aged population.
Highlights
In addition to the traditional role of vitamin D (VitD) in bone health, several studies have shown an inverse association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and multiple non-skeletal medical conditions, including type 2Helmi Ikonen and Johanna Lumme contributed
We found no differences in the vitD status or descriptive characteristics between full sample and those with the repeated measures (Online resource 3)
BMI decreased and physical activity increased towards the highest VitD status group, and the magnitude of the difference between the lowest and the highest VitD status
Summary
In addition to the traditional role of vitamin D (VitD) in bone health, several studies have shown an inverse association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and multiple non-skeletal medical conditions, including type 2Helmi Ikonen and Johanna Lumme contributed . Extended author information available on the last page of the article diabetes [1], cardiovascular diseases [2, 3], autoimmune diseases [4], certain cancers [5], depression [6], and all-cause mortality [7,8,9]. This might be important to acknowledge in the middle-aged population, where we observe steep increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases. To ensure an adequate VitD status, assessed by serum 25(OH)D, among the population, some Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, and Norway) have launched VitD food fortification programmes
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