Abstract
The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in women with a non-Western ethnic minority background in Nordic countries is high. The aim of this study was to assess vitamin D knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in women with a non-Western ethic minority background living in Denmark. A validated vitamin D knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors’ questionnaire was translated into Danish, piloted, and distributed via relevant Facebook groups. The responses were analyzed using parametric and non-parametric tests for descriptive and bivariate analyses. In total, 254 women who considered themselves having a non-Western ethnic minority background responded to the questionnaire. The median age (IQR) was 25 (23–33) years old; 32% had a professional bachelor’s, 28% had high school, and 22% had a master’s or higher university education. Participants scored higher on vitamin D general knowledge (scores above 80 on the scale 0–100) compared to vitamin D nutrition knowledge or vitamin D attitudes and behaviors (scores around 60 on the scale 0–100). In conclusion, the vitamin D knowledge among study participants—i.e., young well-educated non-Western ethnic minority women in Denmark—was pretty good. The further examination of vitamin D knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors should explore specifics related to nationality and religion and focus on less-educated non-Western ethnic minority women in Denmark and other Nordic countries.
Highlights
Observational and intervention studies suggest that vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of developing nutritional rickets, as well as metabolic, autoimmune, infectious, cardiovascular, mental, and other types of disorders [1,2]
826 people responded to a questionnaire; of these, 254 were women who identified themselves as having a non-Western ethnic background
For the majority of these women, Denmark was the place of birth (162 or 64%); for the majority of the women, their mothers (248 or 98%)
Summary
Observational and intervention studies suggest that vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of developing nutritional rickets, as well as metabolic, autoimmune, infectious, cardiovascular, mental, and other types of disorders [1,2]. Vitamin D deficiency, is a recognized public health problem, especially in Nordic countries [3,4]. Non-Western ethnic minorities in Nordic countries exhibit especially high vitamin D deficiency rates [5,6]. Vitamin D deficiency in young non-Western ethnic minority women raises special concerns, as the vitamin D status in young women determines health outcomes for the women themselves and for their potential offspring [7]. A debate, exists regarding whether vitamin D optimal levels are naturally lower in darker-skinned populations. A body of evidence points towards generally lower vitamin D levels in dark-skinned human populations, even those receiving intense sunlight. The vitamin D levels were below 75 nmol/L in 51% of young tanned Hawaiians with 22.4 h per week of unprotected sun exposure [8]; among south Indians, “agricultural workers starting their day at 0800 and working outdoors until 1700 with their face, chest, back, legs, arms, and forearms exposed to sunlight”, 44% of
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