Seasonal Epidemiology of Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations among Healthy Adults Living in Rural and Urban Areas in Mongolia.
Many factors put Mongolians at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Despite low levels observed in Mongolian children and pregnant women, there are few data published on the vitamin D status of non-pregnant adults. Between summer 2011 and winter 2013, paired summer and winter blood samples were collected from 320 healthy men and women (20-58 years) living in eight Mongolian provinces. Mean serum 25(OH)D concentrations were 22.5 ng/mL (95% CI: 14.5, 32.5) in summer and 7.7 ng/mL (95% CI: 4.6, 10.8) in winter, with a distribution (<10/10-20/20-30/≥30 ng/mL) of 3.1%/39.3%/39.6%/17.9% in summer and 80.1%/19.5%/0.3%/0.0% in winter. Residents of the capital, Ulaanbaatar, had lower levels in both seasons than any other region, whereas residents of the Gobi desert had the highest. In summer, indoor workers had significantly lower levels than outdoor workers (-2.3 ng/mL; 95% CI: -4.1, -5.7) while levels in males exceeded those in females (4.0 ng/mL; 95% CI: 2.3, 5.7). Effects of region, occupation, and sex were also significant in multivariable regression. In conclusion, Mongolian adults had extremely low serum 25(OH)D, particularly in winter, when 80.1% had concentrations below 10 ng/mL. These results indicate a need for effective vitamin D interventions for the Mongolian adult population, particularly among women and residents of Ulaanbaatar.
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. sbromage@mail.harvard.edu.
Sabri
S
Bromage
Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. jwrichedwards@bics.bwh.harvard.edu.
Janet W
JW
Rich-Edwards
National Institute of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 16081, Mongolia. tsemena312@gmail.com.
Daria
D
Tselmen
Departments of Epidemiology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. abaylin@umich.edu.
Ana
A
Baylin
Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. lisa.houghton@otago.ac.nz.
Lisa A
LA
Houghton
National Institute of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar 16081, Mongolia. nachinbsj@yahoo.com.
Nachin
N
Baasanjav
Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. gdavaasa@hsph.harvard.edu.
Davaasambuu
D
Ganmaa
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008986:Mongolia; D009790:Occupations; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D012737:Sex Factors; D013472:Sunlight; D014505:Urban Population; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D
25(OH)D; 25-hydroxyvitamin D; Mongolia; calciferol; food fortification; hypovitaminosis D; nutrient supplementation; nutritional epidemiology; sex differences; vitamin D deficiency
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