Even in Hawaii, People Have Vitamin D Deficiency!

Ever since I've come across reports that Vitamin D supplementation is helpful to decrease allergy symptoms, I've encountered other interesting factoids including this one...

Even in Hawaii where one would expect it's population to get plenty of sunshine, 51% ended up STILL having low vitamin D levels in a study population consisted of 93 adults (30 women and 63 men) with a mean age of 24!!! Read the study here. (For those not in the know, our bodies make vitamin D only with sun exposure.)

How can that be?

Well, given our ancestors probably were out in the sun a lot in terms of farming and/or hunting... our current culture and population does not come even close to the necessary amount of sunshine exposure to maintain adequate Vitamin D levels. After all, many of us work inside buildings instead of outside. We also are applying a lot of suntan lotion preventing the Vitamin D production within our bodies.

Hmmmmmm... Is it possible that the rampant Vitamin D deficiency present in our society is correlated with the increased numbers of allergies/asthma given allergies are worse with low Vitamin D levels?

Reference:
Low vitamin D status despite abundant sun exposure. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jun;92(6):2130-5. Epub 2007 Apr 10.

Serum vitamin D levels and severe asthma exacerbations in the Childhood Asthma Management Program study. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010 Jul;126(1):52-8.e5. Epub 2010 Jun 9.

Vitamin D in atopic dermatitis, asthma and allergic diseases. Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2010 Aug;30(3):397-409.