title: High prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency among elite Spanish athletes the importance of outdoor training adaptation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The discovery of vitamin D muscle receptors in the last few years suggested a significant role in muscle tissue, pointing out athletes as a special group. Specific data are scarce.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The main aim of the current paper was to provide, for the first time, comparable data about vitamin D status in elite Spanish athletes by sport, age, season and training environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred and eight elite athletes with a mean age of 22.8 ± 8.4 years were recruited from the High-performance sport centre in Barcelona for this cross-sectional study. Athletes from 34 different sports modalities were analysed. Data were available for vitamin D status, training environment, seasonality and number of medical visits. All data were analysed using SPSS version 18.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean 25(OH)D of all athletes was 56.7 ± 23.4 nmol/L. Approximately 82% of the athletes were below the optimal levels, (< 75nmol/l), 45% had moderate deficient levels (< 50 nmol/L) and 6% had severe deficiency (< 27.5 nmol/L). We have observed a steady increase in 25(OH)D concentrations with increasing age (p < 0.01) Highest levels were observed in those subjects training outdoors compared with those training indoor (p.
authors.affiliation: mFine Research Group. Department of Health and Human Performance. Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (INEF). Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Spain.. jaravaltusan@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Jara
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Valtueña
authors.affiliation: GIRSANE-CAR. Sant Cugat del Vallés. Spain..
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dominguez
authors.affiliation: GIRSANE-CAR. Sant Cugat del Vallés. Spain. Centre Sanitari de Terrassa. Spain. Medical Services F. C. Barcelona. Barcelona. Spain..
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Til
authors.affiliation: mFine Research Group. Department of Health and Human Performance. Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (INEF). Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Spain..
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: González-Gross
authors.affiliation: GIRSANE-CAR. Sant Cugat del Vallés. Spain. Medical Services F. C. Barcelona. Barcelona. Spain..
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Drobnic
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012621:Seasons; D013030:Spain; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D