The sunshine under our skin: public knowledge and practices about vitamin D deficiency in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Anwar, Mudassir; El‐Dahiyat, Faris; Jairoun, Ammar Abdulrahman; Raed, Ruba; Butt, Iqra; Abdel-Majid, Wasan; Abdelgadir, Hind

doi:10.1007/s11657-019-0671-5

Cited by 3 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Additionally, it explained that completion of the questionnaire indicates accepting participation in the study. Questions regarding knowledge and attitude towards vitamin D were adapted from previous validated questionnaires [ 27 , 28 , 29 ] which were originally written in English. Consequently, the questionnaire was translated into Arabic and then translated back into English.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and Attitudes towards Vitamin D among Health Educators in Public Schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Hamhoum

Aljefree

2022

Healthcare

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Health educators in schools are a very important part of the education system. Considering the significant prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is important to investigate the knowledge of and attitude towards vitamin D among health educators. This study aims to examine the knowledge of and attitude towards vitamin D among health educators in public schools in Jeddah as well as to identify the associated sociodemographic factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and December 2021 among 231 health educators. Data were collected via a self-administered online questionnaire. The results revealed that only 45% of health educators had good knowledge of vitamin D, and approximately 43% had a positive attitude towards vitamin D. Additionally, those who had good knowledge of vitamin D were males (58.7%) (p = 0.005) and had a bachelor’s degree (74%) (p = 0.01). Moreover, male health educators aged 45–54 years had a positive attitude towards vitamin D (3.8 ± 0.7) (p = 0.007). In addition, female health educators who were divorced (3.8 ± 0.7) and widowed (3.6 ± 0.5) (p = 0.04) and those who were administrators (3.3 ± 0.7) (p = 0.01) had a positive attitude towards vitamin D. The Ministry of Education (MOE) in the Kingdom must educate health educators through educational programmes that aim to increase the knowledge of and develop a positive attitude towards vitamin D intake.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and Attitudes towards Vitamin D among Health Educators in Public Schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Hamhoum

Aljefree

2022

Healthcare

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“…Recent studies have been conducted to access the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding vitamin D in Ethiopia (Mekonnen et al, 2020), Denmark (Özel et al, 2020), Malaysia (Shahudin et al, 2020), UK (O'Connor et al, 2018;Burchell et al, 2020), Saudi Arabia (AlBishi et al, 2018Geddawy et al, 2020), Pakistan (Tariq et al, 2020), United Arab Emirates (Anwar et al, 2019) and Poland (Zadka et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community-based social and demographic assessment of knowledge, attitudes, practices and medical conditions related to vitamin D deficiency in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan

et al. 2021

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Vitamin D is an important nutrient for bone health, and vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of various diseases. Gilgit Baltistan, the northern-most area of Pakistan, has a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, despite many nutritional and food safety programmes. The present study aimed to find how knowledge, attitudes and practices associated with vitamin D related to the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among people residing in different areas of Gilgit Baltistan. The cross-sectional study was descriptive and used data from a survey carried out between February 2019 and December 2020 on individuals of both sexes aged 10 years or over in Gilgit Baltistan. Of the 575 survey participants, 306 (53.2%) had experienced signs and symptoms of vitamin D deficiency, i.e. tiredness, fatigue and bone weakness. Approximately 64.8% had some general knowledge of vitamin D and its relation to health. Participants aged 19–25 years had the highest scores on knowledge of vitamin D. Only 22.7% of interviewees had ever taken any supplements and only 25.6% often exposed themselves to sunlight. Females’ mean knowledge score (28.7; SD 7.02) was higher than that of males (24; SD 9.01). A lack of consistency was observed between attitude towards daylight exposure and knowledge of vitamin D. There was a large correlation between knowledge and attitude (p = 0.001), while a non-significant association was demonstrated between knowledge and practices (p = 0.1). Better knowledge, attitude and practices by people living in cities or more-developed regions indicates that education can be an effective way to provide awareness regarding micronutrient deficiencies. More emphasis is needed on enhancing knowledge, awareness and practices associated with vitamin D deficiency in rural areas of Pakistan. It is strongly recommended that an awareness campaign on micronutrients is launched in both rural and urban areas of Pakistan, concentrating on poor socioeconomic settings.

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“…Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a worldwide public health concern. The issue of poor vitamin D levels have been reported in many studies from east to west, in high latitude to long sunshine duration countries, and among whole-food consumer to vegetarian [5,[8][9][10][11][12][13]. According to many studies, a region such as the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA), with a long sunny day duration, has recorded a very high incidence of VDD.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to many studies, a region such as the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA), with a long sunny day duration, has recorded a very high incidence of VDD. These include over 90% of the population residing in the United Arab Emirates [9,14,15], around 80% of Saudis with different age groups [16,17], data from Iraq [8,13,[18][19][20][21], Qatar [22], and Jordan [23,24]. Similarly, deficiency is also prevalent among the American [1,4], Chines [25], Indian [26][27][28], British [5], and Norwegian [10] populations, among others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the liver, the initial hydroxylation occurs, transforming vitamin D into 25-hydroxy vitamin D: 25(OH)D (calcidiol: the inactive form that represents vitamin D status when bio-medically assessed). Then, it follows by second hydroxylation in the kidney via a 25-hydroxyvitamin D-1 alpha-hydroxylase enzyme to yield an activated form of vitamin D, known as a 1,25dihydroxy vitamin D: 1,25(OH)2D (calcitriol: functional form in body tissues and organ) [9,32]. Because 1,25(OH)2D has a shorter half-life (2-3 weeks) and circulates at a lower level than 25(OH)D, it is commonly assessed 25(OH)D to determine individual vitamin D storage and status so that it represent cutaneous production and dietary vitamin D intakes [11,29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nutritional and General Awareness of Vitamin D Status among Adult Population in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan Region, Iraq: A Cross-Sectional Study

Mohammedsalih

Shakor

Ali

et al. 2023

KJAR

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The health benefits of vitamin D are widely acknowledged by scientific and public health specialists. In Iraq, vitamin D deficiency and inadequacy are highly prevalent. However, public knowledge on this problem is scarce. This research aimed to evaluate the participants' knowledge about vitamin D, particularly their nutrition-related understanding and behavior, along with their overall attitude toward sun exposure. A descriptive cross-sectional survey of Iraqi adults over 18 was performed with a collection of serum 25(OH)D result between June and September 2022. The observed serum vitamin D indicated that only 25% of the participant had healthy (>30 ng/ml) vitamin D levels. The majority of participants, 90.9%, were aware of vitamin D. Media and primary health care centers were major vitamin D information sources (57.3 and 32%, respectively). Despite believing sunshine is the principal source of vitamin D (90.2%), respondents lacked understanding about the duration (26.3%) and frequency (30%) of sun exposure. In addition, less than 10% of individuals attributed vitamin D shortage to kidney and liver problems, fat malabsorption, obesity, and bariatric surgery. Nevertheless, more than two-thirds (83.3%) of participants defined the positive role of vitamin D in preventing osteoporosis and immune system strengthening (61%). Furthermore, nutritional awareness among the participants was variable. Approximately, 75% misrepresented the percentage of vitamin D supplied by food, over 50% believed that fruit and vegetables are vitamin D sources, 43% of vegetarians are not at risk for vitamin D deficiency, and rather plants considered (70.3%) as an approach to lessen vitamin D deficiency. Additionally, optimal daily intake was recognized by only 10%. Similarly, only 18.3% was aware of the optimal level of serum vitamin D. Notably, 54% was entirely ignorant of the benefits of dietary fortification. Although 55% of the surveyed population used vitamin D supplements, and 76% acknowledged it through their doctor's recommendation, exceeding two-thirds incorrectly anticipated that drinking tea would impair vitamin D absorption. Therefore, 90% would buy supplements without a prescription if needed. Implementing nutrition education initiatives, encouraging healthy lifestyles, and supporting vitamin D examination should be included in Iraq's health care system.

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The sunshine under our skin: public knowledge and practices about vitamin D deficiency in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Cited by 3 publications

References 27 publications

Knowledge and Attitudes towards Vitamin D among Health Educators in Public Schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Knowledge and Attitudes towards Vitamin D among Health Educators in Public Schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Community-based social and demographic assessment of knowledge, attitudes, practices and medical conditions related to vitamin D deficiency in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan

Nutritional and General Awareness of Vitamin D Status among Adult Population in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan Region, Iraq: A Cross-Sectional Study

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