Vitamin D Supplementation in Australia: Implications for the Development of Supplementation Guidelines

Abstract EN

High rates of vitamin D deficiency and testing have been reported in Australia, yet there are few reports regarding vitamin D supplement use.

Australian wholesale sales data was obtained for vitamin Dsupplements for the period 2000–2011.

There has been a threefoldincrease in supplement sales over the past decade, whereby over A$94million supplements containing vitamin D in Australia were sold duringthe year 2010.

There were eighty-nine manufacturers that produce avariety of 195 vitamin D products.

The amount of vitamin D in theseproducts varies considerably, from 40 to 1000 IU per unit, although supplements containing only vitamin D had the highest amount ofvitamin D.

There was a trend for sales to increase in winter months.

Given the potential public health benefits of vitamin D, there is anurgent need for a better understanding of supplementation use andfor the development of supplementation.