(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Citizens in sunshine-rich Oman are deficient in the ‘sunshine vitamin' (vitamin D). The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among Omanis stands at 87.5 per cent.
The deficiency has been linked to avoiding the sun and inadequate intake of vitamin D supplements.
This was found in a study conducted by Clifford Abiaka, assistant professor, department of biochemistry, College of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Sultan Qaboos University and his team.
A total of 206 Omanis aged between 18 to 55 years (105 women, average age 26.8 years) and 101 men (average age 31.1 years) took part in the study.
They comprised university students, educators, administrators, office secretaries and their relatives. ''The main reasons for the deficiency are the traditional attire and the use of sunscreen with high sun protection factor (SPF) particularly by women, besides low consumption of vitamin D-rich food such as salmon, herring and mackerel,'' said Abiaka.
Research has shown that vitamin D deficiency correlates with rickets, osteomalacia and secondary hyperparathyroidism.
''Vitamin D deficiency has been attributed as a cause of osteoporosis, cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus, and multiple sclerosis (MS), among other conditions. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to obesity and central adiposity.''
He explained that according to responses to a questionnaire, though the Omani study subjects ate a considerable amount of fish, including tuna and sardines, but not the types richer in Vitamin D3 such as salmon, herring, and mackerel.
''It is likely that because of lactose intolerance the intake of milk was much lower relative to the intake of laban (yoghurt drink),'' he said, adding, however like milk, most laban drinks are fortified with vitamin D.
''A very small percentage of the participants indicated that they took vitamin D supplements,'' he added.
''The observed vitamin D deficiency in the Omani study sample could be due to the habit of avoiding going out in the sun, inadequate intake of dietary vitamin D, and the absence of supplemental vitamin D tablets.''
According to him, the strikingly lower levels of vitamin D observed among women could be attributed to insufficient intake of dietary supplements and further compounded by the use of sunscreen and traditional attire.
He said that the study didn't included veiled women.
''Clothing impedes cutaneous vitamin D3 photosynthesis. Generally, the higher the thread per square inch, the more light attenuation produced and the reason men have higher Vitamin D level is because they have more skin exposure than women.
''Higher the SPF of sunscreen, more the blockage of solar UVB cutaneous synthesis of vitamin D3,''
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