title: Vitamin D insufficiency in a sunny environment: a demographic and seasonal analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypovitaminosis D has been shown to be extremely common in various regions around the world, mostly at high latitudes. Israel is characterized by certain features--cultural (e.g., ethnic isolates) and geographic (e.g., sunny climate)--that have been identified for their possible association with vitamin D status.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To conduct an ecological study on a representative sample of the population of Israel, testing vitamin D status across age groups, genders, ethnic groups, and seasons.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained serum samples from 195 heaIthy Israeli volunteers representing a broad demographic spectrum. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D were measured with the commercial kit Liaison 25(OH)D Assay (DiaSorin, Italy).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean vitamin D level for the entire cohort was surprisingly low (22.9 +/- 10.1 ng/ml), with 149 subjects (78%) suffering from vitamin D insufficiency (< 30 ng/lml). Vitamin D status was better in infants than in olderage groups. Differences by gender were significant only inthe infant age group (i.e., vitamin D status was worse among females) and were not prominent across older ages. Israelis of Ashkenazi origin had higher vitamin D mean levels than those of Sephardic origin, who, in turn, had higher vitamin D levels than Arab subjects (31.4 +/- 12, 24.1 +/- 10, and 17.6 +/- 9 ng/ml respectively). With regard to season, there were no differences between the samples collected in winter and the samples collected in summer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that hypovitaminosis D is common across all ages, genders and seasons in Israel, a country characterized by a sunny Mediterranean climate. Specific ethnic groups may be at especially high risk.
authors.affiliation: Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oren
authors.forename: Yinon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shapira
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Agmon-Levin
authors.forename: Shaye
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kivity
authors.forename: Yaron
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zafrir
authors.forename: Arie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Altman
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shoenfeld
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013472:Sunlight; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers