Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency and its Awareness and Knowledge Among Parents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3126/jnps.v41i2.30657Keywords:
Awareness, Children, Sun exposure, Symptoms, Vitamin DAbstract
Introduction: Role of vitamin D in bone related diseases has a long history but mounting scientific evidences now show serious consequences on overall health of children. Despite the close link of vitamin D with child’s health, its inadequacy is not widely recognised as a problem in our population. This study is aimed to find out the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in children and its awareness among parents.
Methods: It is a prospective, cross-sectional study conducted in paediatric outpatient department of Kathmandu Medical College and Hospital from January to May 2020. Children of one to 15 years were included and 295 samples were taken. A pre-designed questionnaire was given to all participants.Vitamin D3 levels were tested with Chemiluminiscence Immuno Assay (CLIA) technique. The status of vitamin D was defined as deficient if vitamin D3 level less than 50 nmol/l.
Results: Vitamin D deficiency were observed in 76.9% and among which 21%, 44.7% and 11.2% were mild, moderate and severe vitamin D deficiency respectively. Vitamin D level was observed significantly higher in males, younger children, those with presence of knowledge of vitamin D and those with adequate sun exposure. On the other hand factors like skin colour, time of exposure and exposed body parts to sun did not influence vitamin D level.
Conclusions: This study shows high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among children but awareness among parents regarding vitamin D and its deficiency was low.
Downloads
679
322
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Pawana Kayastha, Robin Kumar Chaudhary, Subash Basnet
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
