CDC: Most Americans Get Enough Vitamins, But Some Need More.

CQ  (4/3, Bristol, Subscription Publication) reports, "The US population overall has adequate levels of vitamins A and D and folate, but some groups could use more vitamin D, iodine and iron, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday."

        The NPR  (4/3, Burnham) "Shots" blog reports that the "nationwide survey  (pdf) covered numerous nutrients important for good health, including vitamins A and D, folate, iron and iodine. However, the study reports that some groups are eating fewer vitamins and minerals than they should." For example, "rates of iron deficiency were slightly elevated in Mexican-American toddlers and in younger Mexican-American and non-Hispanic black women."

        WebMD  (4/3, Goodman) reports that when it came to deficiencies for vitamins, the highest deficiencies were found for vitamin D, which "is important for strong muscles and bones, and it may help protect against certain cancers and type 2 diabetes." According to WebMD, "the CDC study found that nearly one-third of African-Americans and 12% of Hispanics have levels of vitamin D that are considered low by scientific standards, compared to 3% of whites."
        According to MedPage Today  (4/3, Fiore), the researchers were intrigued by the fact that African-Americans had the highest prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, "because clinical data have shown that African Americans have superior bone health." MedPage Today adds that the investigators have called for more research in order to explain this finding.

        HealthDay  (4/3, Preidt) explains that the researchers measured "vitamins and nutrients in blood and urine samples collected between 1999 and 2006 from participants in the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey."