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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2010 Jul 1;101(4):318–321. doi: 10.1007/BF03405294

Vitamin D Intake From Food and Supplements Among Ontario Women Based on the US Block Food Frequency Questionnaire With and Without Modification for Canadian Food Values

Laura N Anderson 112,212,✉, Michelle Cotterchio 112,212, Beatrice A Boucher 112,212,312, Julia A Knight 112,412, Torin Block 512
PMCID: PMC6973816  PMID: 21033546

Abstract

Objectives

To measure and compare dietary vitamin D intake among women in Ontario using a modified Block 1998 (US) food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) before and after modification for Canadian-specific vitamin D food fortification.

Methods

An age-stratified random sample of 3,471 women in Ontario (aged 25–74) was identified using random digit dialing methods. Standard US food values and a modified Canadian-specific vitamin D nutrient analysis were applied to the FFQ.

Results

Intake of vitamin D from foods (Canadian nutrient analysis) was 5.3 ± 3.4 μg/day (mean ± SD) and 45% of women reported vitamin D intake from supplements. Total vitamin D intakes met the current Adequate Intakes of 5, 10 and 15 μg/day for only 62%, 47%, and 28% of women aged <-50, 51–70 and >-71, respectively. Relatively high agreement was found between the US and Canadian nutrient analysis methods of measuring vitamin D from food (weighted kappa = 0.74, 95% CI 0.72–0.76). Intake differences (US minus Canadian) ranged from -5.0 μg/day to +2.0 μg/day (1st-99th percentile); however, the mean difference was only -0.54 μg/day (95% CI: -0.58 to -0.50).

Conclusions

Lower than recommended total vitamin D intakes were observed among our study participants which may negatively impact the health status of women. Adjustment for Canadian food fortification and the inclusion of fatty fish had little impact on the measurement of vitamin D from food.

Key words: Vitamin D, food, fortified, nutrition surveys, female, Canada, United States

Footnotes

Conflict of Interest: TB is an owner of NutritionQuest, which holds the copyright on the Block FFQ. LNA, MC, BAB and JAK have none to declare.

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