Vitamin D is important for calcium metabolism, nerve and muscle function, and immunity. The University of Maryland Medical Center states that those who do not get enough vitamin D are at greater risk of osteoporosis, high blood pressure and diabetes. There are a number of factors that can affect your vitamin D levels.
Inadequate Sun Exposure
Your body makes most of its vitamin D when you expose your skin to the sun. If you have dark skin, your ability to synthesize vitamin D is weaker than it is in a lighter skinned person. If you live in a climate where cloudy days are the norm, it may be difficult for you to make enough vitamin D through sunlight exposure.
Inadequate Diet
If you are not exposed to enough sunlight, dietary sources of vitamin D can make up for the shortfall. If you have neither enough sun exposure nor enough dietary vitamin D, deficiency can result. Vitamin D is not naturally present in large quantities in many foods, so it has become normal practice to fortify food products with vitamin D. Breast-fed infants are at risk of vitamin D deficiency, because human breast milk provides relatively little of this vitamin, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.
Inadequate Absorption
Even if you eat plenty of vitamin D-fortified foods, it may not be enough to ensure adequate vitamin D absorption. If you have a gastrointestinal disorder that inhibits the ability of your intestines to absorb nutrients, your vitamin D levels may decline. Crohn's disease, celiac disease and fat malabsorption syndromes can all prevent you from obtaining enough vitamin D from dietary sources.
Advanced Age
As you get older, your skin becomes less efficient at synthesizing vitamin D from sunshine, your stomach creates less hydrochloric acid to aid in the digestion of foods, and you may not have as much mobility as you once did, making it more difficult to go outdoors for sun exposure. All these factors may cause you to have low levels of vitamin D. This is compounded by the fact that your vitamin D needs increase with age. According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, those between the age of 19 and 70 require an average of 600 IU of vitamin D daily, while those older than 70 require 800 IU.
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