Journal of School of Public Health and

---

Background and Aim: At the outset of the third millennium, vitamin D deficiency is still a common and serious health problem among women of reproductive age and their infants in developing countries. Precise information on the vitamin D status of urban lactating women in Islamabad -Gharb is not available. But it seems that, like in other areas of Iran, vitamin D deficiency may be common in this region. The aim of this study was to determine the vitamin D status in urban lactating women and its association with the following variables: number of pregnancies, total duration of lactation, length of exposure to sunlight, and literacy.
Materials and Methods: Using a simple random sampling technique, a total of 155 lactating women with children under the age of 1 year were selected from 8 urban health clinics. In the interview, the subjects answered questions on the above-mentioned independent variables and fasting blood samples were taken for analysis. The concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in serum was measured by a chemiluminescence method. Normal status was defined as concentration of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D serum ≥ 10 ng/ml, moderate deficiency as concentration ≥ 6ng/ml and <10 ng/ml, and severe vitamin D deficiency as concentration of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D < 6 ng/ml.
Results: The results indicate that only 8.4% of women were normal, 18.7% had moderate deficiency, and 72.9% had severe vitamin D deficiency. The vitamin D status had a statistically significantly negative association with the number of pregnancies and the total duration of lactation.
Conclusion: The vitamin D status of urban lactating women is very poor and needs immediate attention.

---

Background and Aim: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in Asia, including the Middle East. Vitamin D deficiency has been found to have an inverse relationship with occurrence of type-2 diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study we assessed the vitamin D and calcium status in type-2 diabetic patients and compared it with that of healthy subjects in Tehran, Iran.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 180 Tehrani individuals, including 95 DM patients, selected randomly from among the members of Iranian Diabetes Association, and 85 healthy subjects in Tehran, Iran. Age and gender were adjusted between the two groups. Serum levels of 25(OH)-vitamin D, calcium, phosphorous, and Parathormone (PTH), as well as weight, height and body mass index (BMI) were measured.

Results: The mean and SD age and BMI of the diabetic patients were 51.26 ± 11.18 years and 26.22 ± 9.30 kg/m², respectively the corresponding figures for the healthy subjects were 51.55 ± 13.39 and 26.26 ± 4.55. The prevalence of calcium deficiency was close in the 2 groups, it being 55.8% in the diabetic, and 57.0% in the healthy, subjects. The data also showed that while 26.3% of the patients suffered from a poor vitamin D status, only 18.6% of the healthy subjects had this problem.

Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among both type-2 diabetic and healthy subjects and should be considered a public health and nutritional problem in Tehran city, Iran.