Vitamin D deficiency in rural girls and pregnant women despite abundant sunshine in northern India.
BACKGROUND
Vitamin D deficiency is common in urban Indians despite living in the tropics and its public health consequences are enormous. However, 70% of India is rural, and data from rural subjects, who are expected to have good sun exposure, are scant.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the population prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in rural pregnant women and adolescent girls, compare serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) status in adolescent boys from the same families, and determine seasonal differences in serum 25OHD.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study conducted over 18 months.


METHODS
A random selection of 121 adolescent girls from a survey of a population of 8270 in a rural low socioeconomic community; 139 pregnant women in the second trimester; and a subset of 28 adolescent girls compared with 34 brothers.


METHODS
Serum 25OHD, serum alkaline phosphatase (AP), sun exposure, and dietary calcium intake.


RESULTS
The age-adjusted community prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (25OHD < 50 nmol/l) in adolescent girls was 88.6%. Seventy-four per cent of pregnant women had vitamin D deficiency. Mean +/- SD 25OHD in girls and women in summer was 55.5 +/- 19.8 nmol/l compared to 27.3 +/- 12.3 nmol/l in winter (P < 0.001). Winter serum 25OHD in boys (67.5 +/- 29.0 nmol/l) was higher than that in their sisters (31.3 +/- 13.5 nmol/l, P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
We report a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women and adolescent girls from a rural Indian community. Boys are relatively protected. Seasonal variation in serum 25OHD is significant at latitude 26 degrees N.
Sahu
Monashis
M
Department of Endocrinology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
Bhatia
Vijayalakshmi
V
Aggarwal
Anjoo
A
Rawat
Vinita
V
Saxena
Priya
P
Pandey
Amita
A
Das
Vinita
V
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013472:Sunlight; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
D002136:Calcium, Dietary; D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D