The relationship between nutritional habits, lifestyles and serum vitamin D levels of women aged between 20 to 65 living in Konya region

This study aimed to determine the relationship between nutritional habits, lifestyles, anthropometric measurements, and some biochemical findings and serum vitamin D levels of women aged between 20 to 65 living in Konya region. A total of 75 non-pregnant women aged between 20-65 years, who applied to the endocrine and internal medicine outpatient clinics of Konya Başkent Research and Application Hospital between September 2014 and November 2014, were included in the study. Patients with chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, cancer, thyroid dysfunction, gallbladder stone, whose gallbladder is removed, who received additional vitamin D supplementation or any other multivitamin support were excluded. Sociodemographic characteristics, physical activity status and dietary habits of the individuals were determined with a questionnaire. Nutritional status of individuals was determined by a food frequency questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were taken, and some biochemical parameters were analyzed. The mean age of the participants was 38 ± 10.26 years. According to body mass index (BMI) classification, 10.7% of individuals were "normal" (BMI=18.5-24.9 kg / m2), 50.7% were "overweight" (BMI= 24.9-29,9kg / m2) and 38.6% were "obese" (BMI≥30kg / m2). The mean value of serum vitamin D was 14.02 ± 7.61 ng/mL. Serum vitamin D levels were defined as "deficient" (≤20ng/mL) in 62 % of the participants, "insufficient" (20-30ng/mL) in 36.7% and ̋sufficient̏ (≥30ng/mL) in 1.3% of the participants. It was determined that BMI measurements of the participants who had either "deficient" or "insufficient" serum vitamin D were higher than normal (p<0.05). The results also revealed that the degree of deficiency in vitamin D was proportional to the increase in BMI. In terms of dressing style, 46.8% of women in closed clothing had a subnormal level of vitamin D whereas the percentage was 33.8% in normal dressing women, and the difference between those two groups was statistically significant (p<0.05).The serum vitamin D levels of the individuals with darker skin types were found to be lower than those of the lighter skinned individuals. In terms of biochemical parameters, a statistically significant relationship was found between parathyroid hormone values and amount of serum vitamin D. As a result, it was found that, while there was no significant correlation between sociodemographic factors, sun exposure duration, dietary habits, and serum vitamin D levels, the relationship between the participants' age, clothing style, skin color, and serum vitamin D levels were statistically significant.