Vitamin D deficiency in Egyptian mothers and their neonates and possible related factors

Abstract

Maternal vitamin D levels strongly correlate with neonatal levels. Maternal vitamin D deficiency is a real problem in Egypt; this is generally related to high BMI, low fish consumption, low educational level, and limited skin exposure.

The Prevalence of Micronutrient Deficiencies and Inadequacies in the Middle East and Approaches to Interventions

“…A study by El Rifai et al of 135 pregnant Egyptian women at ≥37 weeks’ gestation (immediately before delivery) reported vitamin D insufficiency (serum 25(OH)D < 50 nmol/L) and inadequacy (serum 25(OH)D 50–80 nmol/L) in 40% and 28.9% of patients, respectively [26]. In another study, 54% of 50 pregnant women and 72.6% of 51 lactating women were found to have insufficient vitamin D (serum 25(OH)D < 50 nmol/L) [27].…”

“…In another study, 54% of 50 pregnant women and 72.6% of 51 lactating women were found to have insufficient vitamin D (serum 25(OH)D < 50 nmol/L) [27]. Neonatal serum 25(OH)D was consistently found to correlate with maternal serum status in studies reported from Egypt and the KSA [25,26,28]. …”

“…The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is high among women of childbearing age in the Middle East, ranging from 24% to 72% across the four countries [11,17,26,28,29]. …”

“…Most studies on vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among the elderly in the Middle East have been conducted on women [26,45,46,47,48], a few have included both genders [11,15,49,50], and only one has been conducted solely on men [12]. Low prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been reported among the elderly in Egypt at 19.3% [12] and KSA at 23.1% [23]; however, insufficiency levels were found to be higher, reaching 41% among the elderly in Lebanon [15] and 77.2% among those in Egypt [26].…”

“…Low prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been reported among the elderly in Egypt at 19.3% [12] and KSA at 23.1% [23]; however, insufficiency levels were found to be higher, reaching 41% among the elderly in Lebanon [15] and 77.2% among those in Egypt [26]. Vitamin D insufficiency among older adults in the region has been attributed to increasing age, low vitamin D intake, female gender, low exposure to sunlight, and veiling (although the results on veiling are mixed) [45].…”