Vitamin D deficiency particularly prevalent in younger adults, new research shows
Research partially funded by Avonmore shows one in six people in Dublin and surrounding areas are deficient in Vitamin D, rising to one in four in the winter
Print6 October 2020
New research from the Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing (MISA) and Trinity College Dublin shows that vitamin D deficiency is widespread across Dublin and surrounding areas in one of the largest studies ever carried out in Europe.
The research found that one in six people were deficient, rising to one in four in the winter and that the youngest participants in the cohort (18-39 years category) had the lowest vitamin D levels with the 80+ years old, the second highest deficient category.
Vitamin D, also known as ’The Sunshine Vitamin’, is important as it contributes to the maintenance of bone and muscle health and helps support a healthy immune system. In Ireland, we don’t get enough vitamin D from the sun between October and March.
Helena Scully, Mercer Glanbia Bone Research fellow at the School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin and first author on the study highlighted the neccessity of vitamin D.
“It’s important that the public is aware of the need to get vitamin D through supplementation or dietary sources such as oily fish like salmon and mackerel and also fortified foods such as cereals and fortified milk,” Scully said. “It’s also important in young adults where peak bone density isn’t reached until about the mid 20s.”
The study was partially funded by Avonmore and builds on a longstanding collaboration between MISA and Avonmore.
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