Hypovitaminosis D in Adults Living in a Sunny City: Relation to Some Cardiometabolic Risk Factors, National Food and Nutrition Surveillance

Background and Objectives: Reports indicate that hypovitaminosis D is extremely common worldwide and is re-emerging as a major health problem globally. In the present study, the main objectives were: 1) to examine whether healthy men and women living in Ahvaz have adequate vitamin D status; 2) to assess association between vitamin D status and some cardiometabolic risk factors. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study which was part of the National Food and Nutrition Surveillance (NFNS). A total of 235 apparently healthy women and men aged 20-60 met the inclusion criteria from the city of Ahvaz (latitude 31.3oN, 48.6oE). Anthropometric measurements including weight and height were taken. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations and lipid profile including triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-C and HDL-C were evaluated. Results: Mean circulating 25(OH)D concentration was 25.4±12.7 nmol/L, with significant difference between men and women (p=0.015). Only 6 % of the participants had sufficient levels of vitamin D (25(OH)D ≥ 50 nmol/L). Results of logistic regression analyses after controlling for gender showed that subjects with hypovitaminosis D were almost 4.38 times more likely to be overweight/obese compared with subjects with vitamin D sufficiency (OR:4.38, p:0.011). There was no significant association between serum 25(OH)D concentration and the lipid profile components. Conclusions: We found high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in apparently healthy adults in Ahvaz, a sunny city of Iran. Our findings suggest that high vitamin D concentrations among the adult population are associated with a substantial decrease in body mass index. However, there was no association with the lipid profile components.