Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and build the mineral structure that gives bones strength. A low result therefore matters for bone health, but the concentration carries more information than a single “low” label. A result just below 30 ng/mL and one below 10 ng/mL fall into the same broad group in this report, while sitting at very different points within it. NIH fact sheet.

The blood test measures 25-hydroxyvitamin D, used to assess Vitamin D status. In 6,943 reports from employees and covered family members tested through Loop, the results are concentrated toward the lower end: 60.1% were below 20 ng/mL, including 22.2% below 10 ng/mL. Those lower bands are important to the age and sex comparisons that follow. A clinician must still interpret each result in the context of the person's health and reason for testing.

Four in five reports are below 30 ng/mL; most are also below 20#

The report's broader 30 ng/mL comparison cutoff groups 81.4% of the results together. The largest single band is 10 to below 20 ng/mL, at 37.9%.

These bands describe measured concentrations, not universal diagnostic cutoffs. The US National Academies considers 20 ng/mL adequate for most people; the Endocrine Society no longer endorses a universal 30 ng/mL target. Clinical interpretation depends on the person. NIH; Endocrine Society.

The share below 20 ng/mL fell from 65.9% in the 2025 edition to 60.1% in 2026. The share below 10 ng/mL fell from 28.0% to 22.2%. Both declines were 5.8 percentage points. These figures compare the tested samples in each edition: 1,720 tests in 2025 and 6,943 reports in 2026.

Very low Vitamin D is about 2.5 times as common in the 20s as at 60+#

30.5% of reports from people in their 20s were below 10 ng/mL, compared with 12.3% at 60 and above. That is approximately a 2.5-fold difference. The share was lower in each successive adult age band, so the result is broader than a contrast between the youngest and oldest groups.

The younger groups carry the larger share of very low results in this sample. Older age alone would therefore be a poor guide to where those results are concentrated. This comparison cannot explain why the groups differ: their sun exposure, supplement use and reasons for testing were not measured here.

The adult table excludes 71 reports below age 20, of which 32.4% were below 10 ng/mL, and one report with no recorded age.

Below 10 ng/mL in the 20s: 37.0% of women’s reports, against 25.3% of men’s#

Women’s reports were more often below 10 ng/mL: 24.6%, against 20.3% in men. Yet men had the higher share below both 30 and 20 ng/mL. Women’s lower overall share below 30 therefore does not mean fewer results at the very low end of the range.

The difference was most pronounced in the 20s: 37.0% of women’s reports were below 10 ng/mL, against 25.3% of men’s. The difference was much smaller in the older adult bands and almost absent at 50–59. The overall sex comparison thus hides a particularly large separation among young adults.

Hyderabad’s share below 10 ng/mL is 15.3%, the lowest of five metros#

Hyderabad’s share below 30 ng/mL, 83.1%, was close to Pune and Bengaluru, both at 83.9%. But its share below 10 ng/mL was 15.3%, the lowest of the five metros. In Bengaluru, 25.1% were below that lower cutoff.

These cities have similarly high broad low-result rates, but different concentrations of very low results. Delhi NCR had the smallest share below 30, at 72.9%; it did not have the smallest share below 10. A city’s broad rate alone can therefore miss where its results lie within the low range.

The five displayed metros use report pincodes and each have more than 400 results. These are tested samples with different age and sex mixes, not city populations.

Roughly four in five employee and family reports are below 30 ng/mL#

Roughly four in five reports were below 30 ng/mL in both groups. Employee reports had a slightly higher share at both cutoffs: 82.9% below 30 ng/mL and 23.2% below 10 ng/mL, against 78.6% and 20.4% among family members.

The gap between employees and family members was smaller than the gap between the youngest and oldest adult age bands. Very low results were common across both relationship groups, rather than concentrated in employees alone.

The groups use the recorded relationship to the employee.

Vitamin D leads supplement use, but only one in five reported taking it#

Vitamin D was the most selected named supplement in the separate health survey: 20.4% of 7,592 valid answers reported current use. B12 followed at 15.0%, then multivitamins at 12.7%.

The question asked, “Do you currently take any of these supplements?” Respondents could select several products.

The survey and laboratory records are not linked to individuals across datasets. They show reported use and measured concentrations separately; they cannot tell us whether the people taking supplements had low results or whether treatment worked.

A single below-30 flag groups four in five reports together#

About the data#

The analysis counts reports, not unique people. Each report contributes one Vitamin D value. The same person can have more than one report. Employees and family members, including children, are included. The tested group is not a representative sample of India’s workforce. Survey percentages count valid answers to the supplement item.