Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Feb 28:8:e8.
doi: 10.1017/jns.2019.4. eCollection 2019.

Racial and ethnic differences in predictors of vitamin D among pregnant women in south-eastern USA

Devika Chawla  1 , Julie L Daniels  1 , Sara E Benjamin-Neelon  2 , Bernard F Fuemmeler  3 , Cathrine Hoyo  4 , Jessie P Buckley  5
Affiliations

Racial and ethnic differences in predictors of vitamin D among pregnant women in south-eastern USA

Devika Chawla et al. J Nutr Sci. .

Abstract

Insufficient vitamin D during pregnancy increases risk of adverse outcomes, with known differences by race/ethnicity. We sought to determine whether predictors of vitamin D insufficiency vary by race/ethnicity in an ethnically diverse pregnancy cohort. Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and patient characteristics were measured at first prenatal visit to prenatal clinics in south-eastern USA between 2009 and 2011 (n 504). Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95 % CI were estimated using multivariable regression to quantify predictors of vitamin D insufficiency, overall and by race/ethnicity. In race/ethnicity-stratified models, season was most associated with vitamin D insufficiency among non-Hispanic white women; PR for winter v. summer were 3·58 (95 % CI 1·64, 7·81) for non-Hispanic white, 1·52 (95 % CI 1·18, 1·95) for Hispanic and 1·14 (95 % CI 0·99, 1·30) for non-Hispanic black women. Although women with darker skin tones are most vulnerable to prenatal vitamin D insufficiency, season may be more strongly associated with insufficiency among women with lighter skin tones.

Keywords: 25(OH)D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D.; 25-Hydroxyvitamin D; Ethnicity; Race; Vitamin D.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Bodnar LM, Simhan HN, Powers RW, et al. (2007) High prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in black and white pregnant women residing in the northern United States and their neonates. J Nutr 137, 447–452. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mulligan ML, Felton SK, Riek AE, et al. (2010) Implications of vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy and lactation. Am J Obstet Gynecol 202, 429.e1–429.e9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Andersen LB, Jorgensen JS, Jensen TK, et al. (2015) Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with increased risk of first-trimester miscarriage in the Odense Child Cohort. Am J Clin Nutr 102, 633–638. - PubMed
    1. Bodnar LM, Simhan HN, Catov JM, et al. (2014) Maternal vitamin D status and the risk of mild and severe preeclampsia. Epidemiology 25, 207–214. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bodnar LM, Catov JM, Zmuda JM, et al. (2010) Maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are associated with small-for-gestational age births in white women. J Nutr 140, 999–1006. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms