Abstract
BackgroundA previous study showed that pregnant women/new mothers especially Somali-born and some Swedish-born had extremely low vitamin D levels and poor physical performance. Our study aimed to examine vitamin D related lifestyle, attitudes and behaviour before and after brief information about vitamin D, with special long-term focus on Somali-born women.MethodsA cohort of 91 pregnant women/new mothers having serum hydroxyvitamin D (S-25-OHD) ≤ 50 nmol/L (n = 51 Somali-born with one third < 10 nmol/L of S-25-OHD) in primary health care in Sweden was targeted for intervention. Brief individual oral and visual information on vitamin D was given by doctors at baseline and after four and ten months. Questionnaires with ordinal scales on vitamin D related lifestyle of food, clothing, and outdoor activities were distributed on all occasions. Focus-group interviews with 15 women from the target-group were performed after two years. A Somali interpreter was available.ResultsVeiled clothing, indoor living, and a low intake of milk, cheese, and fatty fish were common in the target group. Consumption pattern had increased significantly among the Somali-born women at the four-month follow-up but declined to non-significant levels at the ten-month follow-up. The focus-group interviews showed improved understanding of vitamin D deficiency, symptoms and attitudes, but varying applied behaviours related to sun exposure. Sun exposure for the children and increased fish consumption was the most evident positive results.ConclusionsVitamin D related lifestyle, attitudes and behaviour improved in a Somali-born group of pregnant women/new mothers with severe vitamin D deficiency. The preventive measures suggested in our study may have impact on public health in relation to bone and muscle strength and immunity especially in vitamin D deficiency risk groups.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02922803. Date of registration: 28 September 2016.
Highlights
A previous study showed that pregnant women/new mothers especially Somali-born and some Swedish-born had extremely low vitamin D levels and poor physical performance
The aim of this paper was three-fold: First, to study if vitamin D related lifestyle differed between women having normal and deficient vitamin D levels within groups of Somali-born and Swedish-born pregnant women/new mothers
Of the 140 women who agreed to participate in the study, two gave birth in between the occasions and did not turn up and the remaining 17 did not offer reasons for dropping out
Summary
A previous study showed that pregnant women/new mothers especially Somali-born and some Swedish-born had extremely low vitamin D levels and poor physical performance. Our study aimed to examine vitamin D related lifestyle, attitudes and behaviour before and after brief information about vitamin D, with special long-term focus on Somali-born women. Large differences in vitamin D levels were documented between Somali-born and Swedish-born pregnant women and new mothers [1]. Lifestyle is crucial for adequate vitamin D levels. The importance of vitamin D for bone and muscle health has been known for a long time [2,3,4,5]. Vitamin D has been of certain interest in the Nordic and other countries far from the Equator [8,9,10,11]. For the remaining periods of the year, the main sources for vitamin D is food containing vitamin D like fatty fish and vitamin D3 enriched food like milk and margarine [14]
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