It appears that 40 percent of African-Caribbeans in the Caribbean have less than 30 ng of Vitamin D – meta-analysis

Global Perspective of the Vitamin D Status of African-Caribbean Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2021)

Rebecca M. Vearing, Kathryn H. Hart, Andrea L. Darling, Yasmine Probst, Aminat S. Olayinka, Jeewaka Mendis, Helena Ribeiro, Siddhartha Thakur, Marcela Mendes, Karen Charlton & Susan A. Lanham-New

Note: Approximately half of a population will have vitamin D levels less than the dot

Analysis does not appear to include Cuba, Hati, Dominican Republic, etc.

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Background/Objectives

Vitamin D deficiency remains a global public health issue, particularly in minority ethnic groups. This review investigates the vitamin D status (as measured by 25(OH)D and dietary intake) of the African-Caribbean population globally.

Subjects/Methods

A systematic review was conducted by searching key databases (PUBMED, Web of Science, Scopus) from inception until October 2019. Search terms included ‘Vitamin D status’ and ‘African-Caribbean’. A random effects and fixed effects meta-analysis was performed by combining means and standard error of the mean.

Result

The search yielded 19 papers that included n = 5670 African-Caribbean participants from six countries. A meta-analysis found this population to have sufficient (>50 nmol/L) 25(OH)D levels at 67.8 nmol/L, 95% CI (57.9, 7.6) but poor dietary intake of vitamin D at only 3.0 µg/day, 95% CI (1.67,4.31). For those living at low latitudes ‘insufficient’ (as defined by study authors) 25(OH)D levels were found only in participants with type 2 diabetes and in those undergoing haemodialysis. Suboptimal dietary vitamin D intake (according to the UK recommended nutrient intake of 10 µg/day) was reported in all studies at high latitudes. Studies at lower latitudes, with lower recommended dietary intakes (Caribbean recommended dietary intake: 2.5 µg/day) found ‘sufficient’ intake in two out of three studies.

Conclusions

25(OH)D sufficiency was found in African-Caribbean populations at lower latitudes. However, at higher latitudes, 25(OH)D deficiency and low dietary vitamin D intake was prevalent.