Maivel Emile Soby Gerges, Ghada Essam Aldin, Diaa Marzouk Abdel Hamid and Mohamed Farouk Allam*

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency is a common public-health problem. Deficiency is more common in women than men, and the childbearing period is known to represent a particularly high-risk situation. High rates of poor vitamin D status are found among women during the childbearing period throughout the world. Women at reproductive age are a group that can be susceptible at earlier age for vitamin D deficiency and its complications as increase the risk of osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, osteomalacia and pathological fractures and can worsen other chronic conditions, such as the polycystic ovary syndrome; it is also a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, some types of cancers and some autoimmune diseases. Several studies have identified a surprisingly high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in all age groups such as in Europe after 14 population study, United States, Canada and Australia. Despite reported prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency depend on the cut-off values used that vary between studies, an estimated 1 billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency or hypovitaminosis D. National surveys should be conducted in every country to determine normal levels of vitamin D in that country and the need for national screening programs for vitamin D deficiency.