Author(s): Afifa Jahan, Aparna K, Manorama Kanuri

Abstract:
Vitamin D is a group ofrnfat-soluble secosteroids responsible for enhancing intestinalrnabsorption of calcium, iron, magnesium,rnphosphate and zinc. 1 billion people worldwide have Vitamin Drndeficiency or insufficiency. The purpose of present study is to compare serumrnVitamin D Levels of individuals exposed to varying degrees of sunlight andrncorrelate with the effect of dietary intake and environmental factors on serumrnVitamin D levels, as well as the examine the effect of supplementation for twornmonths on improvement is status of severely deficient subjects. A total ofrnsixty subjects within the age group of 22-60 years were selected for the study.rnThe subjects were selected from different places and occupations based on therndegree of exposure to sunlight. Information on Nutritional assessment / dietaryrnintake was collected using a questionnaire. Serum vitamin D levels werernassessed by HPLC using a Diode Array Detector. The dietary intakernof vitamin D rich food is low in all the three groups, and low intake ofrnvitamin D fortified food items as well as vitamin D supplements was observed inrnall three groups. Results with respect to serum vitamin D levelsrnindicated that among group I subjects with zero exposure to sunlight, only 5rncould be classified under “deficiency” category and rest of the 15 subjectsrnbelonged to the “severe deficiency” category. With respect to group II subjectsrnwho were completely exposed to sunlight, 17 out of 20 could be classified underrnthe “deficiency” category and only 3 belonged to the “sufficient” categoryrnbased on their serum vitamin D levels, inspite of adequate exposure tornsunlight, probably due to low intake of vitamin D rich foods. Among group IIIrnsubjects who were moderately exposed to sunlight, 19 belonged to “sufficient”rncategory and only 1 subject could be classified under “deficient” category.rnThe results of ANOVArnshows significant difference between three group means (p= 1.55E-07). There isrnsignificant difference between group I (complete exposure to sunlight) andrngroup II (zero exposure to sunlight) and also between group II (zero exposurernto sunlight) and group III (moderate exposure to sunlight). However there is nornsignificant difference between group I (complete exposure to sunlight) andrngroup III (moderate exposure to sunlight), (P<0.01) Significant at 1% level.