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Meeting the Vitamin D requirements of the elderly

WENDY J. DAHL
University of Florida, Food Science and Human Nutrition, 359 FSHN Building Newell Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in the elderly is prevalent worldwide, due to low intakes and lack of endogenous synthesis. Deficiency is associated with acute bone disease while insufficiency contributes to a myriad of conditions that lead to increased morbidity and decreased quality of life in the elderly. Proposed solutions include supplementation, and fortification or enrichment strategies to insure that the elderly obtain their vitamin D requirement. Closing the unprecedented gap between the vitamin D requirements and current intakes of the elderly will require novelstrategies and regulatory and systematic change.


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