Vitamin D Intakes and Status

1. Most people in the U.S. don't get enough vitamin D.
   A study from 2015–2016 showed that men, women, and children eat and drink less vitamin D than they should.

   • Men get about 5.1 mcg (204 IU) a day.
   • Women get about 4.2 mcg (168 IU) a day.
   • Kids (ages 2 to 19) get about 4.9 mcg (196 IU) a day.

2. Almost everyone gets less vitamin D than needed.
   From 2013 to 2016, about 92% of men, 97% of women, and 94% of everyone over age 1 got less than 10 mcg (400 IU) a day from food and drinks.

3. Some people take vitamin D supplements (vitamin pills).
   About 28% of people age 2 and up took vitamin D supplements.

   • 26% of kids ages 2–5 took supplements.
   • 14% of kids ages 6–11 took supplements.
   • More older people take supplements: 49% of men and 59% of women over age 60.

4. Supplements give more vitamin D.
   People who take supplements get 3 times more vitamin D than from food alone.

   • Without supplements: about 4.8 mcg (192 IU).
   • With supplements: about 19.9 mcg (796 IU).

5. Some people take too much.
   About 3.2% of U.S. adults take very high doses—100 mcg (4,000 IU) or more.

6. Sunlight helps raise vitamin D.
   Even if people don’t eat enough vitamin D, sunlight helps their bodies make more. Also, some animal foods have a strong form of vitamin D not counted in surveys.

7. Most people have enough vitamin D, but some don’t.

   • About 18% are at risk of not having enough.
   • About 5% have very low levels.
   • Children ages 1–5 have the lowest risk (only 0.5%), but adults ages 20–39 have the highest (about 7.6%).

8. Vitamin D levels are different for different groups.

   • 17.5% of Black people, 7.6% of Asian people, 5.9% of Hispanic people, and 2.1% of White people are low in vitamin D.

9. Vitamin D levels stayed about the same between 2003 and 2014.

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