Vitamin D supplementation usage and its predictors in UK South Asian adults ( n 8024) aged 40–69 years: preliminary analysis of data from the UK Biobank

Abstract

The UK adult recommended nutrient intake (RNI) for Vitamin D is currently set at 10 micrograms/d.(1) It is difficult to achieve this recommendation from the diet alone, unless oily fish is consumed in significant amounts daily. However, no research to date has assessed the Vitamin D supplement usage in UK South Asians (SA), who are at particular increased risk of deficiency. Due to the link between osteoporosis and Vitamin D deficiency most previous attention has been paid to promoting women's supplement use, but as Vitamin D is associated with many chronic health diseases it is important to understand supplement use in men. The present study assesses the prevalence of Vitamin D supplement use, and its predictors, in the UK Biobank cohort. The UK Biobank (http://www.UKbiobank.ac.UK/) is a large ongoing UK-wide cohort(2) with data on >500,000 individuals, aged 40-69 years old, recruited from 2006-2010. The current analysis uses data from n 8024 SA (n 3730 women, n 4924 men) of which n 236 were Bangladeshi (B), n 5951 were Indian (I) and n 1837 Pakistani (P). Mean (+/-SD) for age was 54+/-9 years in men and 53 +/-8 years in women; with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27 (4) kg/m2 in men and 28 (5) kg/m2 in women. For the purpose of this analysis it was assumed that all multiVitamin and mineral supplements contain Vitamin D. Chi-square analyses showed that 2 1 % of men and 7 1 % of women consumed a single Vitamin D supplement (P < 0 001) and 15 2 % of men and 21 7 % of women used a multiVitamin and mineral supplement (P < 0 001). In addition, 5 4 % of B, 4 3 % of I and 4 6 % of P subjects reported taking a Vitamin D supplement (P = 0 62), and 11 8 % of B, 19 7 % of I and 14 2 % of P subjects reported taking a multiVitamin and mineral supplement (P < 0 001). Median (Interquartile Range) for Vitamin D intakes were 4 0 (3 0), 1 0 (2 0) and 1 5 (2 0) micrograms per day for B, I and P respectively. A logistic regression model (Table) showed that gender was the strongest predictor of non-use of a Vitamin D supplement, with a 3 4 times higher odds in men. Age was also a significant predictor, with those of younger age groups (