title: Vitamin D deficiency and low bone status in adult female garment factory workers in Bangladesh.
abstract: The manufacture of garments is the main industry in Bangladesh and employs 1.6 million female workers. Due to the indoor lifestyle and low dietary intake of calcium, we hypothesised that they are at risk of low vitamin D and bone mineral status. Two hundred female garment workers (aged 18-36 years) were randomly selected. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (S-25OHD), serum intact parathyroid hormone (S-iPTH), serum calcium (S-Ca), serum phosphate (S-P) concentration and serum alkaline phosphatase activity (S-ALP) were measured from fasting samples. Bone indexes of hip and spine were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The mean S-25OHD (36.7 nmol/l) was low compared to that recommended for vitamin D sufficiency. About 16% of the subjects were found to be vitamin D-deficient (S-25OHD 21 ng/l) was associated with progressive reduction in bone mineral density at the femoral neck and lumbar spine. According to the WHO criteria, the mean T-score of the femoral neck and lumbar spine of the subjects were within osteopenic range. We observed that subjects with a bone mineral density T-score < -2.5 had a trend of lower values of BMI, waist-hip circumference, mid-upper-arm circumference, S-25OHD and higher S-iPTH and S-ALP. The high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D and low bone mineral density among these subjects are indicative of higher risk for osteomalacia or osteoporosis and fracture.
authors.affiliation: Calcium Research Unit, Division of Nutrition, Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 27, Helsinki 00014, Finland.
authors.forename: Md Zahirul
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Abu Ahmed
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Shamim
authors.forename: Virpi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kemi
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nevanlinna
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akhtaruzzaman
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laaksonen
authors.forename: Atia H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Jehan
authors.forename: Khurshid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jahan
authors.forename: Habib Ullah
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Christel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lamberg-Allardt
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D001459:Bangladesh; D015519:Bone Density; D003020:Clothing; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood; D012306:Risk; D013783:Textile Industry; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014931:Women, Working
chemical_list: D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D