title: Vitamin d supplementation in australia: implications for the development of supplementation guidelines.
abstract: High rates of vitamin D deficiency and testing have been reported in Australia, yet there are few reports regarding vitamin D supplement use. Australian wholesale sales data was obtained for vitamin D supplements for the period 2000-2011. There has been a threefold increase in supplement sales over the past decade, whereby over A$94 million supplements containing vitamin D in Australia were sold during the year 2010. There were eighty-nine manufacturers that produce a variety of 195 vitamin D products. The amount of vitamin D in these products varies considerably, from 40 to 1000 IU per unit, although supplements containing only vitamin D had the highest amount of vitamin D. There was a trend for sales to increase in winter months. Given the potential public health benefits of vitamin D, there is an urgent need for a better understanding of supplementation use and for the development of supplementation.
authors.affiliation: Westmead Breast Cancer Institute, Westmead Hospital and The University of Sydney, P.O. Box 143, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.
authors.forename: Kellie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bilinski
authors.affiliation: Department of Dietetics & Nutrition, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Talbot