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Objective: We investigated vitamin D status in institutionalized elderly subjects by measuring serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and its association with season and other factors: age, gender, nutritional status, cognitive function, functional ability, dietary intake, vitamin D supplement consumption, and disease., Methods: The cross-sectional study included 86 subjects, 65-94 y of age (29 men and 57 women), who lived in three nursing homes in Murcia, a Spanish Mediterranean area. The Mini Nutritional Assessment, Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, and BI were used to evaluate nutritional status, functional ability, and cognitive function, respectively. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were used to assess vitamin D status. The thresholds of inadequacy were considered to be <25 nmol/L (vitamin D deficiency) and <50 nmol/L (vitamin D insufficiency)., Results: Body mass index was 28.8 +/- 5.8 kg/m(2) (mean +/- SD). Vitamin D dietary intake was very much below the recommended dietary intake. The Mini Nutritional Assessment was 23.6 +/- 4.0, cognitive function was 7.8 +/- 1.9, and functional ability 82.9 +/- 23.1. The percentages of subjects with inadequate serum 25(OH)D concentrations were 58.2% and 32.6%, taking into consideration cutoffs of 50 and 25 nmol/L, respectively. Vitamin D deficiency was more common in women (40.3%) than in men (20.7%). Serum 25(OH)D concentrations varied significantly with the season in which the samples were taken, but not with the other factors analyzed., Conclusion: In this Mediterranean area, a substantial percentage of institutionalized subjects showed an inadequate vitamin D status, which could be remedied by the consumption of vitamin D-fortified foods and/or vitamin D supplements, especially during the summer months.

Recasting the role of fruit and vegetables (F&V) in the diet, and planning national and international campaigns to enhance their consumption are major public health service objectives. The present study seeks to describe F&V availability patterns in ten European countries and examine compliance with current recommendations. The mean and median F&V availability (g/person per d) was estimated based on household budget survey data retrieved from the Data Food Networking (DAFNE) databank. Low F&V consumers were identified based on WHO international recommendations (minimum combined F&V intake of about 400 g/person per d) and current conservative guidelines of a minimum daily intake of three portions of vegetables and two portions of fruit. Considerable disparities in F&V availability were found among the surveyed European populations. Only in Mediterranean countries did the mean daily population intake clearly exceed combined F&V recommendations. Dietary patterns were positively skewed in all populations studied, on account of the presence of exceptionally high values among segments of the populations. Moreover, the correlation was unexpectedly weak between the proportion of low fruit and low vegetable consumers (Spearman's correlation coefficient +0·18). More than 50 % of the households in the surveyed populations are likely to consume less than the recommended daily vegetable intake of three portions, and this applies even to the two Mediterranean populations. The efficiency of F&V promoting strategies may be enhanced if F&V are addressed separately; furthermore, interventions that would specifically focus on vegetables are probably needed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]