A position paper authored on behalf of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) Vitamin D Working Group summarizes the burden of vitamin D deficiency and public health approaches for its prevention in global populations, addressing key issues such as global variations in vitamin D concentrations, methodological issues with testing, guidelines, screening, supplementation and food fortification. The work is published in the journal Osteoporosis International . Professor Bess Dawson Hughes, Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, senior scientist, Endocrine Division at Tufts Medical Center, and senior author of the publication, stated, "Vitamin D levels at the population level differ markedly around the world, and are dependent on a range of factors such as diet, skin pigmentation , covering, latitude, effective sun exposure, and supplement use.
"We know that vitamin D is important for overall health and that severe vitamin D deficiency in some individuals may lead to serious health issues such as rickets or osteomalacia. In these patients, prompt vitamin D repletion is needed. However, at the level of public health, the role of vitamin D supplementation presents a different set of considerations.
Here the goal is to keep vitamin D levels high enough, on average, to reduce the risk of health problems overall." Building on recently published work from the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoske.
