Newborns in sunny Jordan have very low Vitamin D (histogram) – Nov 2013

Vitamin D Deficiency among Newborns in Amman, Jordan

Global Journal of Health Science; Vol. 6, No. 1; 2014 ISSN 1916-9736 E-ISSN 1916-9744
Najwa Khuri-Bulos1,4, Ryan D. Lang2, Meridith Blevins3, Katherine Kudyba1, Lindsey Lawrence5, Mario
Davidson3, Samir Faouri6 & Natasha B. Halasa1
1 Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine;Nashville, TN, USA
2 Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Baltimore, MD, USA
3 Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; Nashville, TN, USA
4 Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Jordan School of Medicine, Amman, Jordan
5 Department of Emergency Medicine, Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
6 Department of Pediatrics, Al Bashir Government Hospital, The Jordan Ministry of Health, Amman, Jordan
Correspondence: Natasha B. Halasa, MD, MPH, Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, D7232 Medical Center North, 1161 21st Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37232, USA. Tel: 615-322-3346. Fax: 615-343-7659. E-mail: natasha.halasa at vanderbilt.edu
Received: August 4, 2013 Accepted: August 22, 2013 Online Published: November 6, 2013
doi:10.5539/gjhs.v6n1p162 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v6n1p162

Objective: Vitamin D deficiency is well recognized in selected Middle Eastern countries, but neonatal vitamin D status is not well studied in Jordan and other nearby countries. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Jordanian newborns and risk factors associated with low levels.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of newborn infants who were delivered at the Al Bashir Government Hospital in Amman, Jordan, from January 31, 2010, to January 27, 2011. Heel stick blood samples for 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels were obtained within 96 hours of birth. Maternal dress pattern, vitamin supplementation, smoke exposure during pregnancy, mode of delivery, gestational age, and birth weight were documented.

Results: Samples were obtained from 3,731 newborns. Median gestational age was 39 weeks, median birth weight was 3.1 kilograms, median maternal age was 27 years, and median newborn 25(OH)D level was 8.6nmol/L. A total of 3,512 newborns (94.1%) in this study were vitamin D deficient (< 50 nmol/L). Lower gestational age, maternal smoke exposure, and birth during winter months were associated with lower infant vitamin D levels, while vitamin D supplementation and time spent outside during pregnancy were associated with higher vitamin D levels.

Conclusions: The prevalence of severely low vitamin D levels in newborn infants in Amman, Jordan, is substantial, even in newborns born during the spring and summer months. Vitamin D supplementation is needed in this population.

---

Really low during the fall and winter

VitaminDWiki suspects that the lower vitamin D levels during second Janurary was due to cloudy/cold weather

Vitamin D Recommendations around the world - IU and ng has a chart sowing that 30 ng is a recommended MINIMUM level

Map of Jordan with latitudes

PDF is attached at the bottom of this page

See also VitaminDWiki

• Vitamin D deficiency for children’s bones is 14ng, based on PTH analysis – Sept 2013
• Hypothesis: recent increases in flat-headed infants is due to low vitamin D – July 2013
• Largest cause of infant deaths is respiratory infections, which is associated with low vitamin D – April 2011
• Children low on vitamin D were 2X more likely to have diarrhea and vomiting - June 2013
• 75 percent of unexplained sudden infant deaths had inadequate level of vitamin D – April 2013
• Overview of Rickets and Vitamin D
• Low vitamin D in yet another sunny country-Thailand - March 2015
• Overview Pregnancy and vitamin D which has the following summary
  

  IU	Cumulative Benefit	Blood level	Cofactors	Calcium	$*/month
  200	Better bones for mom with 600 mg of Calcium	6 ng/ml increase	Not needed	No effect	$0.10
  400	Less Rickets (but not zero with 400 IU) 3X less adolescent Schizophrenia Fewer child seizures	20-30 ng/ml	Not needed	No effect	$0.20
  2000	2X More likely to get pregnant naturally/IVF 2X Fewer dental problems with pregnancy 8X less diabetes 4X fewer C-sections (>37 ng) 4X less preeclampsia (40 ng vs 10 ng) 5X less child asthma 2X fewer language problems age 5	42 ng/ml	Desirable	< 750 mg	$1
  4000	2X fewer pregnancy complications 2X fewer pre-term births	49 ng/ml	Should have cofactors	< 750 mg	$3
  6000	Probable: larger benefits for above items Just enough D for breastfed infant More maternal and infant weight		Should have cofactors	< 750 mg	$4

• Mongolian women have the lowest levels of vitamin D in the world – Sept 2013
• Vitamin D deficiency in Middle East and North Africa - June 2013
• Beijing extremely vitamin D deficient even in the fall: 10 ng – April 2013
• 93% of newborns of military in Hawaii had low vitamin D – March 2013 suspect air conditioning
• Mothers and infants in India have very low levels of vitamin D – April 2012
  89% of normal weight infants had < 15 ng at birth (119 infants)
• Low D in developing countries – less than 5 ng in some children in China – Oct 2010
• Vitamin D levels in healthy populations around the globe – Aug 2012 has the following map (Is Jordan in red?)

Clothing restrictions in the Middle East - not as much in Jordan

Short url =http://is.gd/Jordaninfants