Korean J Fam Pract. 2018; 8(1): 113-117  https://doi.org/10.21215/kjfp.2018.8.1.113
Association between Vitamin C and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Korea: Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2012-2015
Jin Young Kim, Hee Jeong Kim, Ji Yun Jeong, Yu Ri Choe*
Department of Family Medicine, Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital, Hwasun, Korea
Yu Ri Choe
Tel: +82-61-379-7290, Fax: +82-61-379-7289
E-mail: hiyuriya@naver.com
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4557-2323
Received: March 15, 2017; Revised: July 27, 2017; Accepted: August 20, 2017; Published online: February 20, 2018.
© The Korean Academy of Family Medicine. All rights reserved.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: Micronutrients play an important role in the development, progression, and complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). Specifically, vitamin C appears to be associated with DM, although its precise role remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between vitamin C intake and DM.
Methods: The data for this study were obtained from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2012–2015. A total of 6,548 individuals (2,542 men and 4,006 women) were involved in this analysis. The participants were divided into two groups according to daily vitamin C intake. The first group included participants ingesting ≥90 mg/day of vitamin C per day. The second group included participants ingesting ＜90 mg/day of vitamin C per day, which is lower than the recommended daily dose. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between vitamin C intake and DM.
Results: Overall, 2,801 (44.9 weighted %) individuals had an inadequate intake of vitamin C of ＜90 mg/day. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that male sex, age, waist circumference, family income, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were associated with an increased prevalence of DM. The odds ratio for DM with inadequate vitamin C intake was 1.41 (95% confidential interval [CI], 1.72–1.70) and this was statistically significant.
Conclusion: Inadequate daily vitamin C intake (＜90 mg/day) is associated with an increased prevalence of DM.
Keywords: Ascorbic Acid; Dietary Supplements; Diabetes Mellitus; Korea
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