This report presents the most recent information about the vitamin D status of New Zealand adults. This information comes from the 2008/09 New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey, a national population survey about the nutritional status of New Zealand adults aged 15 years and over. It was carried out from October 2008 to October 2009, and included the collection of blood samples, from which vitamin D status could be measured.
This report includes data on the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and being below the recommended level of vitamin D, as well as the annual mean level of vitamin D. Results are presented by sex, age, ethnic group, socioeconomic status, body size, region and season.
Key Results
This report found that, in 2008/09:
- the majority of New Zealand adults (68.1 percent) had good levels of vitamin D
- 4.9 percent of adults had vitamin D deficiency, including 0.2 percent of adults who had severe deficiency
- 27.1 percent of adults were below the recommended level of vitamin D but did not have a vitamin D deficiency.