Factors contributing to vitamin D status near retirement age.

As part of a larger survey assessing health and wellbeing in men and women at retirement age, vitamin D status was examined. The sample of 110 men and women participated in a week's weighed dietary survey, with extensive interviews including socio-economic background and the collection of medical information and blood samples. Estimations of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) were included among the analyses, and were related to dietary intakes and sunlight exposure, including recent holidays in the sun. The results emphasize the major importance of ultraviolet light on the skin. Fortified and unfortified foods, as well as other variables possibly affecting vitamin D status, were investigated. It was found that a weekly consumption of fatty fish maintained adequate plasma 25-OHD levels in those whose exposure to sunlight was poor. It is concluded that positive action taken at a time of change, ie, retirement from work, may sustain the adequate vitamin D status shown in this sample.