This 2017 special issue of Public Health Nutrition features nineteen research manuscripts all relevant to the role of vitamin D nutritional status in the risk and prevention of chronic diseases of public health importance. A useful barometer gauging the worldwide growing interest in vitamin D and health research is shown by over 13 000 studies abstracted in PubMed over the last 5 years alone, a...

Vitamin D does not only influence the musculoskeletal health and mineral homeostasis but it also affects cardiovascular, endocrine, nervous, immune and mental functions, thus it is of considerable importance for both physically active people and elite athletes. However, vitamin D deficiency is common worldwide and results from inadequate endogenous skin synthesis (insufficient ultraviolet B exp...

INTRODUCTION While most physicians recognize that vitamin D status varies by skin color because darker skin requires more light to synthesize vitamin D than lighter skin, the importance of body weight to vitamin D status is a newer, less recognized, finding. The purpose of this study was to use nationally representative US data to determine the probability of vitamin D deficiency by body weight...

BACKGROUND Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in observational studies. The specific causes of death underlying this association lack clarity. We investigated the association between vitamin D status and cause-specific mortality. METHODS We included a total of 9,146 individuals from the two population-based studies, Monica10 and Inter99, conducted...

Maternal vitamin D deficiency is not uncommon. The lack of vitamin D during pregnancy may result in poor fetal growth and altered neonatal development that may persist into later life. Recognition of risk factors and early detection of vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy are important in order to prevent neonatal vitamin D deficiency and related complications. The aim of the current study was...

BACKGROUND Vitamin D plays a role in host defense against infection. Vitamin D deficiency is common worldwide. The prognostic value of vitamin D levels in pneumonia is unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the impact of vitamin D status on outcome in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHODS We conducted a prospective cohort study in 272 hospitalized patients with CAP. Levels of 2...

Background. We assessed vitamin D intakes and serum 25(OH) vitamin D levels in pediatric asthma patients on moderate-to-high dose inhaled steroids and compared them to published findings of healthy children in our city. Methods. Parents and/or patients were interviewed to estimate the children's vitamin D intakes from foods and supplements (using an adapted validated food frequency questionnair...

Maternal vitamin D deficiency is not uncommon. The lack of vitamin D during pregnancy may result in poor fetal growth and altered neonatal development that may persist into later life. Recognition of risk factors and early detection of vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is important in order to prevent neonatal vitamin D deficiency and related complications. The aim of the current study is t...

Vitamin D is a unique nutrient in that it is actually a prohormone obtained by endogenous synthesis from sun exposure on 7-dehydrocholesterol in skin and from certain foods and dietary supplements. Endogenous synthesis produces cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) and is transported to the liver bound to the vitamin D-binding protein (DBP). In foods and dietary supplements, vitamin D exists either as c...

As a result of low dietary intake and sun avoidance, low vitamin D status is endemic in Wisconsin. In a convenience sample of postmenopausal Wisconsin residents, 59% had suboptimal D status. Only recently, the medical community has begun to appreciate that low vitamin D status underlies multiple deleterious health consequences including skeletal fragility, muscle weakness, and a potential multi...