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VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF Al-RIYADH CITY

Bassem Dalil Al-otaibi and Abdullah Fehaid ALotaibi

Introduction: There are multiple studies done in different countries regarding the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency is worldwide problem and cost effective. Many studies showed high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Middle East countries. This study aimed to detect the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the northern region of Al-Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 65 participants whom aged 9-61 years old Randomly chosen from the clinic in May 2018 then systemic sampling starting from the number (2,4,6,8….) and selected 32 participants (16 males and 16 females) for vitamin D deficiency evaluation. Results: More than half of the participants whom involved in this study have vitamin D deficiency 22 (68.75%). Regarding the gender we found that vitamin D deficiency is more common on females than males (47% and 22%) respectively. Also, whom have normal values of vitamin D are 10 (31%) participants. All participants know the benefit of sunshine on the body but few participants do regular exercise and expose their bodies on the sun. Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency has a high prevalence in the northern region in Al-Riyadh City. In addition, it had been noticed that females are more common to have this deficiency than males. In order to avoid complications of vitamin D deficiency, public educations are needed to increase the level of awareness among general population and to supply dietary intake with vitamin D to compensate the deficiency. Key words: vitamin D, prevalence, Saudi Arabia.

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