Pakistani immigrant children and adults in Denmark have severely low vitamin D status

Abstract

Objective: To determine vitamin D and bone status in adolescent girls, pre-menopausal women and men of Pakistani origin, to single out determinants of vitamin D status and to determine the association between vitamin D status, bone metabolism and bone status. Subjects/Methods: Cross-sectional study, Copenhagen (551N), January-November. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (S-25OHD), serum intact parathyroid hormone (S-iPTH), bone turnover markers and whole body and lumbar spine bone mineral density were measured. Sun, smoking and clothing habits, age, body mass index (BMI), and vitamin D and calcium from food and from supplements were recorded. Thirty-seven girls (median age, range: 12.2 years, 10.1-14.7), 115 women (36.2 years, 18.1-52.7) and 95 men (38.3 years, 17.9-63.5) of Pakistani origin (immigrants or descendants with Pakistani parents) took part in the study. Results: Median concentration of S-25OHD was 10.9, 12.0 and 20.7 nmol/l for girls, women and men, respectively. Forty-seven per cent of the girls, 37% of the women and 24% of the men had elevated S-iPTH, and there was a negative relationship between S-iPTH and S-25OHD. Use of vitamin D-containing supplements had a positive association with S-25OHD for men (P ¼ 0.04) and women (P ¼ 0.0008). Twenty-one per cent of the women and 34% of the men had osteopenia. Neither S-25OHD nor S-iPTH was associated with lumbar spine or whole body bone mineral content. IntroductionVitamin D is a primary regulator of calcium homoeostasis and bone metabolism. The active metabolites of vitamin D facilitate the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in the gut to maintain blood calcium concentrations that are vital to proper bone mineralization. Vitamin D deficiency can result in rickets in children, and in osteomalacia and/or osteoporosis in adults and elderly (Heaney, 2003;Zittermann, 2003). Since the main source of vitamin D is ultraviolet light, reduced sun exposure, due to clothing habits, dark skin pigmentation or living at northern latitudes, can lead to vitamin D deficiency. Diet is a secondary source of vitamin D, since only few foods contain significant amounts of vitamin D.In Contributors: RA collected the data, wrote the manuscript and undertook the statistical analyses with advice from LTS, CM and LO. RA, CB, KDC, CL-A, CM and LO designed the study. JJ undertook the measurements of S-25OHD. KDC undertook the measurements of bone turnover markers. CL-A undertook the measurements of S-iPTH, calcium and phosphate. All contributed to the manuscript. (Statistics Denmark, 2005). People who migrate from sun-rich countries to countries that are sun-deprived for half of the year and have low UVintensity even at summer (e.g., Denmark) may increase their risk of vitamin D deficiency. In particular, when the habit of avoiding direct sun exposure is maintained and most of the skin is covered with clothes also during the summer, the deficiency may become severe.In recent studies from Norway ( The aim of this study was to determine the vitamin D and bone status in healthy adolescent g...

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Effect of vitamin D supplementation on bone and vitamin D status among Pakistani immigrants in Denmark: a randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled intervention study

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