Estimate of a predictive cut-off value for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D reflecting abdominal obesity in Korean adolescents.

Nutr Res. 2012 Jun;32(6):395-402. Epub 2012 Jun 12.
Nam GE, Kim do H, Cho KH, Park YG, Han KD, Choi YS, Kim SM, Ko BJ, Kim YH, Lee KS.
Department of Family Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.

Vitamin D deficiency is a serious global issue. Although the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] test is generally the most accurate way to assess vitamin D levels, the optimal range of 25(OH)D has yet to be established. Moreover, the optimal level may vary according to race, region, and age. Suboptimal vitamin D status is associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome, which are the major risk factors for cardiovascular disorders; however, these relationships in children and adolescents have yet to be clearly determined. Therefore, we identified the best predictive cut-off value for reflecting abdominal obesity and, based on this value, we investigated the relationship between suboptimal 25(OH)D status and the risk for having abdominal obesity, being overweight or obese, and having metabolic syndrome in Korean adolescents.

We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 713 Korean adolescents, between 12-19 years of age, and used data collected from the 2008 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Receiver operation characteristic curve analysis was used to identify the cut-off value that reflected abdominal obesity.

The cut-off value of serum 25(OH)D that reflected abdominal obesity in Korean adolescents was 17.6 ng/mL.

After making adjustments for gender, age, and regular physical exercise, the group that had lower levels of serum 25(OH)D compared to the cut-off value had a significantly higher risk for abdominal obesity, obesity, and metabolic syndrome than the group with 25(OH)D levels higher than the cut-off value.

Suboptimal vitamin D status based on this value is associated with increased risk for abdominal obesity, obesity, and metabolic syndrome among Korean adolescents.

Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PMID: 22749174
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

See also VitaminDWiki

• Virtually all young Koreans had less than 30 ng of vitamin D – 2012
• Teen obesity strongly associated with vitamin D deficiency – April 2012
• Obese teens needed 4000 IU of vitamin D - Nov 2011
• All items in category Obesity and vitamin D 124 items as of July 2012
• Overview Obesity and Vitamin D
• 3X more abdominal obesity among Korean children having low vitamin D – July 2012 from same department in Korea
• Vitamin D less than 20 ng associated with 73 pct chance becoming obese in 11 years – May 2012