Abstract
High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been reported worldwide. Residents of Taiyuan, China, were predicted to be at high risk of vitamin D deficiency due to its high latitude, heavy air pollution, and cultural sun avoidance. This study investigated the vitamin D status of office workers, and explored the potential determinants of capillary 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration as well as the relationship between 25(OH)D and metabolic syndrome. Two hundred participants, aged 20 to 80 years, were recruited. Capillary dried blood spot (DBS) 25(OH)D was measured; together with anthropometric (height, weight, and waist circumference), biochemical (serum lipid profile and fasting glucose) measures and a lifestyle questionnaire. Thirty-four percent of participants had 25(OH)D concentrations below 30 nmol/L, indicating deficient vitamin D status. Women’s 25(OH)D (median; 32.7 nmol/L (upper and lower quartile; 25.8, 43.8)) was significantly lower than men (44.0 nmol/L (32.3, 55.4)) (p < 0.01). Female gender, higher fasting glucose, and increased smoking (p < 0.05) were negatively associated with 25(OH)D concentration. However, there was no association found between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and 25(OH)D concentration and no significant difference in vitamin D status between men or women with MetS compared to healthy individuals. Vitamin D deficiency was common in urban residents of Taiyuan in winter and more so in women than men.
Highlights
Over the past few decades, China has experienced rapid economic development and urbanization, accompanied by social transition including nutrition and physical activity change
There were a total of 164 participants who had sufficient criteria measured to diagnose metabolic syndrome (MetS)
The findings from this study suggest that vitamin D deficiency is common in office workers in Taiyuan, China during the winter season according to Institute of Medicine (IOM) criteria [25]
Summary
Over the past few decades, China has experienced rapid economic development and urbanization, accompanied by social transition including nutrition and physical activity change. Lifestyles have shifted to increasingly unhealthy Western style diet behaviors [1], more sedentary jobs, and limited leisure time activity [2]. Not surprisingly, these trends have been accompanied by a rising prevalence of chronic diseases [3,4,5]. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with urbanization in terms of air pollution, increased sedentary occupations that result in most of the day being spent indoors, as well as, in China, a preference for light skin color and resultant sun avoidance [6]. The amount of solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) reaching the Earth’s
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