The Malnutrition of Obesity: Micronutrient Deficiencies That Promote Diabetes

Table 1

Prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies in obesity and diabetes [5, 6, 46, 58–61].

Micronutrient	Prevalence of deficiency
	Obesity	Type 2 diabetes
Thiamine B1	15–29%	17–79%^a
Pyridoxine B6	0–11%	—
Cobalamin B12	3–8%	22%
Folic Acid	3-4%	—
Ascorbic acid C	35–45%	—^b
Vitamin A	17%	—
Vitamin D	80–90%^c	85–90%^c
Vitamin E	0%	0%
Zinc	14–30%	—
Chromium	—	20–40%
Selenium	58%	—

—Prevalence data not available
^aData includes type 1 diabetic patients
^bDecreased levels of ascorbic acid have been reported in diabetes
^cPrevalence reflects rates vitamin D insufficiency.