Vitamin C intakes and key contributors in the UK population: preliminary results from the NDNS years 9 -11
Authors: Emily Royle1 , Alyson Hill1 , Carrie H.S. Ruxton2 and Maeve A. Kerr1 
1 Nutrition Innovation Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), School of Biomedical Sciences,  Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, BT52 1SA 
2 Nutrition Communications, East Road, Cupar KY15 4HQ, UK
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that acts as an antioxidant and has many essential  functions in the body. UK Dietary Reference Values (DRV’s) for vitamin C are 30-40mg/day  for children and adults, however, data are limited on current UK vitamin C intakes with no  National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) reports on vitamin C intakes since 20141 . Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of vitamin C with current recommendations suggesting  consumption of 5 portions or more each day. However, only 33% of adults and 12% of  adolescents meet the 5 a day recommendation2 . A recent review concluded that fruit juice made  important contributions to the intake of vitamin C across the lifecycle, whilst making a modest  contribution to free sugars (2-14%) and also up to 7% to potassium and folate3 . This study  aimed to examine vitamin C intakes in a representative sample of the UK population in  comparison with UK DRV’s. Key food group contributors to vitamin C intake were also  explored. 
Data were accessed from NDNS; Years 9-11; 2016-2019; a rolling cross-sectional survey  designed to gather representative data from the UK population on nutrient intake, food  consumption, and nutritional status. Four-day diet diary data were extracted for males and  females aged 1-85y. Average daily vitamin C intakes (mg/day) were examined according to 3  age groups aligned with UK vitamin C Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNI) cut offs: 1-10y (RNI  30mg/day), 11-14y (RNI 35mg/day) and 15+ (RNI 40mg/day). Average daily consumption of  vitamin C from food sources only (mg/day) and % contribution of 33 food groups to vitamin C intake were also examined across age groups. All data analysed by SPSS (v.29). 
Of the total 3558 participants (n 1636 male; n 1922 female) mean age was 30.6 ± 24.5 years.  Median (IQR) intakes of vitamin C were 67.6 (57.6) mg/day. Prevalence of those not meeting  the UK RNI and EAR, respectively, was: 11.3% and 3.2% in children aged 1-10 years (n 1031); 17.4% and 5.9% in adolescents aged 11- 14y (n 357) and 22.9% and 9.2% in those aged 15- 85y (n 2170). Key food group contributors (% contribution) to average daily vitamin C intake  were ‘Smoothies’ (30%), ‘fruit juice’ (30%), ‘fruit’ (20%), ‘raw vegetables’ (17%) and ‘nonlow calorie soft drinks’ (13%), with similarities noted across age groups. 
Based on current UK DRV’s, a marked proportion of the UK population have vitamin C  shortfalls, and this appears to become more prevalent with age (11% aged 1-10y; 17% aged  11-14y and 23% aged 15+ not meeting RNI). Future work should explore the effect of modelling varied vitamin C consumption from key food sources (primarily smoothies and fruit  juices) on vitamin C intakes.
References: 
1. Public Health England (2014) NDNS: results from years 1 to 4 [Available at:  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-diet-and-nutrition-survey-resultsfrom-years-1-to-4-combined-of-the-rolling-programme-for-2008-and-2009-to-2011- and-2012] 
2. Public Health England (2020) NDNS: results from years 9 to 11 [Available  at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/ndns-results-from-years-9-to-11-2016- to-2017-and-2018-to-2019.] 
3. Walton J & Kehoe L (2024) Nutr Res Rev 1-36