Vitamin D deficiency at the Arctic Circle – a study in food-allergic adolescents and controls
Article first published online: 14 FEB 2013
©2013 The Author(s)/Acta Pædiatrica ©2013 Foundation Acta Pædiatrica
Volume 102, Issue 6, pages 644–649, June 2013
How to Cite
Persson, K., Öhlund, I., Nordström, L., Winberg, A., Rönmark, E. and West, C. E. (2013), Vitamin D deficiency at the Arctic Circle – a study in food-allergic adolescents and controls. Acta Paediatrica, 102: 644–649. doi: 10.1111/apa.12172
- Issue published online: 6 MAY 2013
- Article first published online: 14 FEB 2013
- Manuscript Accepted: 22 JAN 2013
- Manuscript Received: 14 NOV 2012
- Umeå University
- Västerbotten County Council
- Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association
- Swedish Heart Lung Foundation
- Elimination diet;
- Food allergy;
- Food hypersensitivity;
- Nutritional status
At the extremes of latitude, UVB intensity is insufficient for adequate vitamin D synthesis in winter. Fatty fish, vitamin D enriched milk, margarine and eggs are main dietary sources of vitamin D. Their elimination may increase the risk of vitamin D deficiency. The aim was to assess vitamin D status in food-allergic adolescents eliminating milk, egg and/or fish compared with adolescents on normal diets.
In winter, vitamin D intake was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire in 20 food-allergic adolescents and 42 controls in the population-based Obstructive Lung Disease In Northern Sweden (OLIN) cohort studies. Vitamin D supplementation was queried. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [S-25(OH)D] and S-parathormone (S-PTH) levels were determined.
Mean (SD) dietary vitamin D intake was 7.9 (3.6) μg/day in allergic adolescents and 7.8 (3.4) in controls (p > 0.05). Mean (SD) S-25(OH)D levels in supplement consumers were 44 (18) nmol/L compared with 35 (10) in non-consumers (p = 0.03). S-25(OH)D and S-PTH levels were similar in food-allergic adolescents and controls (p > 0.05). Eighty-two percentage had deficient S-25(OH)D levels <50 nmol/L, and none reached levels >75 nmol/L.
Vitamin D deficiency was as common in food-allergic adolescents as in controls although the vitamin D intake met national recommendations. Large-scale studies on the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in this region are needed.