title: The estimated benefits of vitamin D for Germany.
abstract: This article gives an overview of the vitamin D status in Germany, provides evidence for an independent association of vitamin D deficiency with various chronic diseases, and discusses preventive measures for improving vitamin D status in Germany. The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency is 40-45% in the general German population. An additional 15-30% are vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D can prevent falls and osteoporotic fractures in older people. There is also accumulating evidence that vitamin D may prevent excess mortality and may probably prevent some chronic diseases that occur in early life such as type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Adherence to present sun safety policy (avoidance of the sun between 11 am and 3 pm) and dietary recommendations (5-10 microg daily for adults) would, however, definitively lead to vitamin D deficiency. The estimated cost saving effect of improving vitamin D status in Germany might be up to 37.5 billion euro annually. It should be the goal of nutrition and medical societies to erase vitamin D deficiency in Germany within the next 5-10 years. To achieve this goal, the daily production of at least 25 microg of vitamin D in the skin or an equivalent oral intake should be guaranteed.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart Center North Rhine-Westphalia, Ruhr University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. azittermann@hdz-nrw.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zittermann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009752:Nutritional Status; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013472:Sunlight; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000502:physiology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D