More Vitamin D

One-third of Americans may not be getting enough vitamin D. USA Today (3/31, Marcus) reports, "About one third of Americans are not getting enough vitamin D," according to a National Center for Health Statistics data brief released March 30 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report "parallels what many other studies have suggested in recent years: that a large chunk of the population is at risk for low vitamin D levels." Although approximately "two-thirds had sufficient levels...about a third were in ranges suggesting risk of either inadequate or deficient levels, says report author Anne Looker, a research scientist with the CDC." According to WebMD (3/30, Mann), the study found d that people "who were at the lowest risk for vitamin D deficiency or inadequacy were children, males, non-Hispanic whites, and women who were pregnant or breastfeeding," with the risk of deficiency "lowest in children ages one to eight and increased with age until about age 30." The analysis was based on "data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys that includes about 5,000 Americans each year." The Los Angeles Times (3/30, Roan) "Booster Shots" blog HealthDay (3/30, Preidt) also cover the study.