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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.


Infants in Jordan @ is.gd/Jordaninfants

Really low during the fall and winter

VitaminDWiki suspects that the lower vitamin D levels during second Janurary was due to cloudy/cold weather
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Vitamin D Recommendations around the world - IU and ng has a chart sowing that 30 ng is a recommended MINIMUM level
2009 and later minimum recommended levels

Map of Jordan with latitudes

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PDF is attached at the bottom of this page

See also VitaminDWiki

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

from Wikipedia Nov 2013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijab_by_country

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

Attached files

ID Name Comment Uploaded Size Downloads
3269 Jordan map.gif admin 12 Nov, 2013 34.37 Kb 1834
3268 Infants - Jordan.pdf admin 12 Nov, 2013 314.26 Kb 1050
3267 Jordan F2.jpg admin 12 Nov, 2013 28.84 Kb 1958