{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T14:29:03Z","timestamp":1787668143940,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,2]],"date-time":"2024-08-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1722556800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted widespread lockdown measures globally, significantly impacting daily activities and outdoor exposure. This study investigates the effect of the pandemic on vitamin D levels and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the adult population, with a focus on gender-specific differences.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 1525 adults from Henan Provincial People\u2019s Hospital were included. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels were measured using the Elecsys\u00ae Vitamin D total kit on the Roche Cobas\u00ae 8000 analyzer. The Clinical Application Consensus on Vitamin D and Its Analogs defined deficiency as 25(OH)D levels below 20 ng\/ml. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 23.0 and GraphPad Prism 8 software.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The overall 25(OH)D levels increased from 18.14 ng\/ml [IQR: 13.78, 23.68] in 2022 to 19.15 ng\/ml [IQR: 14.88, 25.01] in 2023 (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>=0.004). Males exhibited significant improvement in 25(OH)D levels from 18.01 ng\/ml [IQR: 14.10, 23.53] in 2022 to 20.49 ng\/ml [IQR: 16.11, 26.01] in 2023 (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.001). The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency decreased from 62% in 2022 to 54.9% in 2023 (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>=0.009), with a notable reduction in males (64.1% in 2022 to 47.2% in 2023). Among 168 individuals tested in both years, 25(OH)D levels increased from 20.73 \u00b1 9.37 ng\/ml in 2022 to 22.28 \u00b1 8.59 ng\/ml in 2023 (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>=0.012), and the deficiency rate decreased from 58.3% in 2022 to 47.0% in 2023 (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>=0.038). The 40\u201349 age group showed significant improvement in 25(OH)D levels from 16.10 ng\/ml [IQR: 12.41, 21.18] in 2022 to 18.28 ng\/ml [IQR: 13.91, 23.86] in 2023 (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>=0.005), with a reduction in deficiency rate from 72.8% to 59.9% (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>=0.02). Furthermore, in February, March, and April, 2022, 25(OH)D levels were significantly lower compared to 2023 (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.001, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>=0.002, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.001, respectively), accompanied by a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.001, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>=0.015, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>&amp;lt;0.001, respectively).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted vitamin D levels, leading to an increased prevalence of deficiency, particularly among males. These findings highlight the critical importance of maintaining sufficient outdoor activities to ensure adequate vitamin D levels. The data underscore the need for public health strategies to address potential deficiencies during prolonged periods of limited outdoor exposure.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2024.1407890","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,2]],"date-time":"2024-08-02T04:57:35Z","timestamp":1722574655000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Changes in vitamin D status among adults from the COVID-19 pandemic to post-pandemic normality"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Yanzhao","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guilian","family":"Kong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1484","DOI":"10.1002\/jmv.25965","article-title":"The management of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)","volume":"92","author":"Liu","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Med Virol"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"203","DOI":"10.1126\/science.6251551","article-title":"Photosynthesis of Previtamin D3 in human skin and the physiologic consequences","volume":"210","author":"Holick","year":"1980","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"319","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chembiol.2013.12.016","article-title":"Metabolism, mechanism of action, and clinical applications","volume":"21","author":"Bikle","year":"2014","journal-title":"Chem Biol"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2799","DOI":"10.1021\/bi00790a023","article-title":"Isolation and identification of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. 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