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Vitamin D intakes in 18–64-y-old Irish adults

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 58, pages 1509–1517 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To estimate vitamin D intakes in a representative sample of Irish adults and to assess the contribution of foods to these intake estimates.

Design: Vitamin D intakes in 1379, 18–64-y-old adults from the North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey were estimated using a combination of new analytical data for vitamin D in foods, determined by HPLC, and used to revise recipe calculations, together with existing data from McCance and Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, 5th Edition plus supplements.

Results: The total mean daily intake (MDI) of vitamin D (1 μg=40 IU) from all sources was 4.2 μg. The MDI was significantly higher (P<0.001) when the contribution from nutritional supplements was included (4.2 μg) compared with food sources only (3.2 μg). Men had significantly higher intakes (4.4 μg) than women (4.0 μg; P<0.001), which increased significantly (P<0.001) with age in both sexes. Meat/meat products (30.1%), fish/fish products (14.3%) and eggs/egg dishes (9.1%) were the main contributors to vitamin D intake. Supplements contributed 6.8 and 12% to MDI in men and women, respectively. In all, 74% of adults had an MDI of vitamin D that was less than the median (5 μg) of the recommended daily range of 0–10 μg.

Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that a large number of Irish adults have low vitamin D intakes. This, along with emerging evidence of low vitamin D status in at least some population subgroups, suggests that strategies to increase vitamin D intakes, including fortification of food, should be investigated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College, Cork, Ireland

    T R Hill, M M O'Brien, K D Cashman, A Flynn & M Kiely

  2. Department of Medicine, University College, Cork, Ireland

    K D Cashman

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  1. T R Hill
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  2. M M O'Brien
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  3. K D Cashman
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  4. A Flynn
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  5. M Kiely
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Contributions

Guarantor: Professor KD Cashman.

Contributors: TRH contributed to design, execution, analysis and writing of the study. MMOB, and AF contributed to design, execution and analysis of the study. KDC and MK contributed to design, analysis and writing of the study.

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Correspondence to M Kiely.

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Hill, T., O'Brien, M., Cashman, K. et al. Vitamin D intakes in 18–64-y-old Irish adults. Eur J Clin Nutr 58, 1509–1517 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602001

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