Senior Korean women have much less vitamin D than men (possible reasons)

Created October 2014

High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in adults aged 50 years and older in Gwangju, Korea: the Dong-gu Study.

J Korean Med Sci. 2014 Jan;29(1):149-52. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.1.149. Epub 2013 Dec 26.

Song HR1, Kweon SS2, Choi JS1, Rhee JA1, Lee YH3, Nam HS4, Jeong SK5, Park KS6, Ryu SY7, Choi SW7, Shin MH1.

Have often read that women have lower levels of circulating vitamin D than men Possible reasons include: 1. Women have higher % of body fat than men (it is well known that body fat stores lots of vitamin D) 1. Darker skinned women, such as Korean and Japanese, want lighter skin - so they minimize tanning 1. Women wear cosmetics, which typically now include sunscreen 1. Women are outdoors less than men 1. Some women use parasols when outdoors to keep from getting tanned (Asia, England 100 years ago)

Vitamin D plays an important role in bone metabolism and maintaining bone health. Recently, new evidence has revealed that vitamin D affects chronic diseases such as autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the vitamin D status and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in an urban Korean population. This study included 8,976 participants (3,587 men and 5,389 women) aged 50 yr and older. Serum 25(OH)D level was measured by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL] was 59.7% and 86.5% in men and women, respectively. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency increased significantly with age in men, but not in women and it decreased from April to July, more prominently in men than in women. These results suggest that sun exposure, intake of vitamin D supplement, and regular physical activities is recommended in an urban Koreans, especially in women.