Abstract
BackgroundsVitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in older adults seems to be common, but the prevalence estimates are lacking in West China. Previous studies suggested that low vitamin D status was associated with obesity. However, most of them evaluated obesity based on body mass index (BMI) and there are no studies at present exploring the association between vitamin D status and different obesity markers. The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of low vitamin D status and evaluate the association between the vitamin D status and different obesity markers among older adults in West China.MethodsData was based on the baseline of West China Health and Aging Trends study (WCHAT). All of the participants were older than 60 years old in the present study. Vitamin D status was based on laboratory data, and obesity markers were assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) using the InBody 770 analyzer. Multiple linear regression was performed to find the association between the vitamin D status and various obesity markers.ResultsThe study included 2661 individuals (mean age: 67.7 ± 6.0 years; males: 41 %). The mean vitamin D level was 18.8 ± 6.3 ng/ml (range: 5 to 59 ng/ml); 5.2 % of participants had a sufficient level of vitamin D, 31.8 % had vitamin D insufficiency, and 63.0 % had vitamin D deficiency. Our results showed that vitamin D status was negatively associated with fat mass index (FMI), visceral fat area (VFA), and waist-hip ratio (WHR) in both sexes. Comparing to other obesity markers, WHR had the strongest correlation with vitamin D status in both sexes (β = -6.090, P = 0.046 in males; β = -11.253, P < 0.001 in females). No significant association was found between vitamin D status and BMI in males.ConclusionThe prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency among older adults in West China was high. Among the older adults in west China, WHR showed stronger association with vitamin D status and was better for the prediction of vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency in both sexes, compared to BMI.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR1800018895.
Highlights
With the steady increase in longevity over the past several decades, the number of individuals reaching old age is unprecedented and has been predicted to reach approximately 2 billion in 2050 [1]
Our results showed that vitamin D status was negatively associated with fat mass index (FMI), visceral fat area (VFA), and waist-hip ratio (WHR) in both sexes
In summary, the results of this study suggest that the prevalence of low vitamin D status among older adults in West China is high
Summary
With the steady increase in longevity over the past several decades, the number of individuals reaching old age is unprecedented and has been predicted to reach approximately 2 billion in 2050 [1]. The incidence of chronic diseases increases as well. Its insufficiency or deficiency is associated with osteoporosis, bone fractures, depression, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and increased mortality [4]. Vitamin D can be supplied by cutaneous synthesis on sunlight exposure (90 % of supply) and dietary intake (10 %), its insufficiency or deficiency remains a global health issue affecting more than one billion people, the elderly population [5, 6]. Several factors are associated with vitamin D status, including geographic latitude, altitude, seasons, dietary vitamin D intake, ethnicity, lifestyle and chronic diseases [6,7,8]. Vitamin D status seems to differ upon sex too, with some studies demonstrating that higher vitamin D status in females [9], and others in males [10]
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