title: Vitamin D status of northern indigenous people of Russia leading traditional and "modernized" way of life.
abstract: Vitamin D status in groups of northern indigenous people of Russia leading close to traditional (seminomadic reindeer herding), post-traditional (in settlements) or "modernized" (in towns) way of life was analysed.
  
  
  
  The survey study groups consisted of 178 Nenets and Komi aged 18-60 living in the Arctic (66-67°N). Urban Komi, Udmurts and Komi-Permiaks (n=150) living in a non-Arctic area (57-61°N) formed a control group. The concentration of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), as a transport form of vitamin D, was assessed by enzyme immunoassay analysis.
  
  
  
  The group average 25OHD levels in both rural and urban Arctic residents are within the range of values seen in the non-Arctic urban subjects adjusted for season: 39.7-47.7 nmol/l. Abandoning traditional lifestyle associates with lower vitamin D levels in indigenous Arctic people. Mean±standard deviation 25OHD values among Nenets were lower in those living in the administrative centre (a big settlement) with a population of 1,460 (32.2±12.90 nmol/l) than in the residents of small settlements (39.6±14.08 nmol/l), and in reindeer herders (42.4±13.45 nmol/l; p<0.05 in both cases). Komi townspeople had lower 25OHD concentrations (47.7±12.00 nmol/l) than Komi reindeer herders (68.7±25.20; p<0.01).
  
  
  
  The transition from seminomadic to post-traditional and "modernized" way of life has led to a decrease in the consumption of traditional foods among the indigenous people of the Russian Arctic. Our data support the notion that the traditional northern diet promotes healthy vitamin D levels, while adherence to the "western" type of diet correlates with a lower 25OHD concentration.
authors.affiliation: Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; Research Department, Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University, Perm, Russia; dr.kozlov@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kozlov
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Northern State Medical University, Arkhangelsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Yulia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Khabarova
authors.affiliation: Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; Research Department, Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University, Perm, Russia.
authors.forename: Galina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vershubsky
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University, Perm, Russia.
authors.forename: Yulia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ateeva
authors.affiliation: Federal Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology, Perm, Russia.
authors.forename: Vadim
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ryzhaenkov
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001110:Arctic Regions / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D044382:Population Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012424:Rural Population; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012922:Social Change; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014505:Urban Population; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D
keywords: 25OHD; Arctic; circumpolar regions; lifestyle; nutrition; reindeer herders