Dietary Calcium and Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Status in Relation to BMD Among US Adults

A higher calcium intake is still the primary recommendation for the prevention of osteoporosis, whereas vitamin D deficiency is often not addressed. To study the relative importance of dietary calcium intake and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] status in regard to hip BMD, 4958 community-dwelling women and 5003 men >= 20 yr of age from the U.S. NHANES III population-based survey were studied. Calcium supplement users and individuals with a prior radius or hip fracture were excluded. We calculated standardized means for BMD by quartiles of sex-specific calcium intake for three 25(OH)D categories (566 mg/d) was not significantly, associated with BMD at 25(OH)D concentrations >50 nM. Among men, there was no significant association between a higher calcium intake beyond the upper end of the lowest quartile (626 mg/d) and BMD within all 25(OH)D categories. Among both sexes, BMD increased stepwise and significantly with higher 25(OH)D concentrations (