• Tom Weishaar, Sonali Rajan, and Bryan Keller.
• From the Department of Health and Behavior Studies (TW, SR) and the Department of Human Development (BK), Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY. jtw2117@columbia.edu.
• J Am Board Fam Med. 2016 Mar 1; 29 (2): 226-32.

IntroductionWhile most physicians recognize that vitamin D status varies by skin color because darker skin requires more light to synthesize vitamin D than lighter skin, the importance of body weight to vitamin D status is a newer, less recognized, finding. The purpose of this study was to use nationally representative US data to determine the probability of vitamin D deficiency by body weight and skin color.MethodsUsing data for individuals age ≥6 years from the 2001 to 2010 cycles of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we calculated the effect of skin color, body weight, and age on vitamin D status. We determined the probability of deficiency within the normal range of body weight for 3 race/ethnicity groups at 3 target levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D.ResultsDarker skin colors and heavier body weights are independently and significantly associated with poorer vitamin D status. We report graphically the probability of vitamin D deficiency by body weight and skin color at vitamin D targets of 20 and 30 ng/mL.ConclusionThe effects of skin color and body weight on vitamin D status are large both statistically and clinically. Knowledge of these effects may facilitate diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency.© Copyright 2016 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

27 keywords...

hide…