An action research project was carried out by a team from the National Public Health Management Centre in Tabriz, Iran to test the following hypothesis: Health Volunteers are more able to support health improvements by focusing on community participation and empowerment through facilitating communities to define and solve their own problems than by only providing information on health problems. Training on participatory approaches was given to Women Health Volunteers (WHV) in a pilot area. The results gave evidence that local people could identify and act upon their own health needs and request more information from professionals to improve their own health. Further research is needed however to assess how the pilot can be scaled up and how initial enthusiasm can be sustained.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency affects over one billion people globally, which results in the progression of severe health consequences and chronic diseases. Literature indicates high rates of vitamin D deficiency in the Pakistani population. Thereby, this current study was aimed to determine the status of vitamin D deficiency in the population of Karachi. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted during January to December 2017 at the Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education (DIHE). A total of 1159 healthy individuals aged between 18-72 years were selected for the study. Data was collected through a questionnaire seeking the demographics of the participants. For the quantitative colorimetric immune-enzymatic determination of 25(OH) vitamin D concentrations in the human plasma level, venous blood was collected and was analyzed using a vitamin D Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kit. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 20.0. Results: A total of 1159 participants were included in the study with the mean age of 40.1±15.2 years. It was observed that 59.1% of participants had deficient vitamin D levels, while 22.6% of participants had sufficient vitamin D levels. There was a significant association between gender and vitamin D status (p < 0.05), as the majority of females (68.5%) were vitamin D deficient as compared to males (31.5%). In contrast, no significant association was found between age and vitamin D levels, with the most deficient age group being 18 to 28 years. Conclusion: It is concluded from the study results that vitamin D deficiency was prevalent in the studied population, despite increased exposure to sunlight. The initial screening for early detection and correction of the condition must be considered as an essential component of the national health strategy, as there is a need to detect and combat the burden of vitamin D deficiency in the country.

Background: Vitamin D deficiency recognized as a pandemic problem around the globe. In the last few decades, the incidence of hypovitaminosis D is affected severely in both genders of Pakistan. Due to economical hurdles and sociocultural practices, the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D is much higher in females which leads to age-related chronic bone & skeletal deformities. To find out vitamin D profile associated with anthropometric measurement of young healthy Pakistani females. Methodology: 115 healthy female participants were recruited for the study. Demographic profile, physical activity status, dietary habits and anthropometric measurements of participants were collected by means of a questionnaire designed for the study. Participants were classified into two groups, vitamin D deficient (VDD) group, and vitamin D adequate (VDA) group. Anthropometric measurements of both groups included body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), mid-upper arm circumference (MAC), triceps skinfold (TSF), corrected mid-upper arm muscle area (CMUAMA) and circumference of thigh size, neck size, biceps size and wrist size. Data were analyzed using Microsoft office 2013. A t-test was applied to find out the associations. P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: P-value for all anthropometric measurements, was found to be non-significant. Unhealthy dietary habits were much higher in VDD group as compared to VDA group. Thus, it was found that there is a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in young Pakistani females. Conclusion: Hypovitaminosis has great influence on physical activity, anthropometric measurement and dietary intake of an individual.