Objective:The study aimed to determine vitamin D status and frequency of its determinants related to diet, clothing, lifestyle and exposure to sunlight among young healthy medical students living in Karachi, Pakistan.Methods:This cross sectional study included responses gathered on questionnaire from medical students of Karachi Medical &Dental College from 4th of August 2017 till 30th April 2018. All the participants were healthy young adult’s year of age who gave written informed consent to participate in the study. Questions regarding demographics, sun exposure, diet, clothing, living patterns and any symptoms like pain or body aches were recorded. Serum 25 (OH) vitamin D3, calcium and phosphorus levels were measured through laboratory examination. For serum 25OHD, the cutoff values ≤ 20ng /ml, ≥ 21-29ng /ml, and ≥ 30ng/ml were defined as deficiency, insufficiency, and sufficiency respectively.Results:Total number of medical students enrolled in the study was 221.Among total participants 191 (86.43%) were females and 30 (13.57%) were males. Mean ± SD age was almost similar (23.00 ± 2.56 vs. 23.03 ± 2.05). Majority of the females 115 (60.2%) had BMI within normal range, and were predominantly single 164 (85.9%). Vitamin D deficiency was found in 197 (89.14%), insufficiency in 16 (7.24%), and only 8 (3.62%) had sufficient levels. Determinant factors reported by deficient group (n=197); fabric color (dark mix) 87.3%, fabric material (synthetic + mix) 48.7%, full length of sleeves by 45.7%, exposure to sun only on hands and face during outdoors was reported by 64.5%, milk up to 250 cc was consumed by 77.2%, one egg per day in diet was taken by 56.9% and intake of cod liver oil was less common in only 27.4%.Conclusion:Deficiency of vitamin D is common among healthy young adults particularly females which emphasize need to add vitamin D supplements in their routine diet.
Background: School nurses are key professionals in the promotion of sexual and reproductive health. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore teenagers' perceptions of their practical parenting skills and their attitudes toward experiential learning through the use of high fidelity baby simulators. Methods: Virtual baby simulator dolls were used as part of sex and relationship education with school students (aged 15–16 years) to look after over a weekend. Students were recruited from a UK academy and completed a diary of their experiences while parenting, received quantitative feedback simulator reports and completed a post-study evaluation questionnaire. Findings: Students saw the virtual baby project as beneficial and important in schools and perceived an improvement in their understanding of practical parenting skills, sexual health and contraception. Conclusion: The implications of this paper are toward involving school nurses more actively in sexual health education in schools via the use of high-fidelity simulators as creative pedagogy in PSHE.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.