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


METHODS
Cross-sectional study, Copenhagen (55 degrees N), 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=0.04) and women (P=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.


CONCLUSIONS
Severely low vitamin D status and elevated S-iPTH is common among Pakistani immigrants in Denmark. The low vitamin D status is not associated with bone markers or bone mass among relatively young Pakistanis.
Andersen
R
R
Department of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Mørkhøj Bygade 19, Søborg, Denmark. ria@food.dtu.dk
Mølgaard
C
C
Skovgaard
L T
LT
Brot
C
C
Cashman
K D
KD
Jakobsen
J
J
Lamberg-Allardt
C
C
Ovesen
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015519:Bone Density / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010154:Pakistan / Q000208:ethnology; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood; D012880:Skin Pigmentation; D012907:Smoking; D013472:Sunlight; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*
D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents; D002136:Calcium, Dietary; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D