Assessment of Vitamin D Level in a Sample of Iraqi Obese Women

Background: High prevalence of both vitamin D (vit. D) deficiency and obesity in world population as reported by many studies drown attention to establish the association and its direction between these two modifiable risk factors and their impact on health status which are still uncertain.
Objective: To measure vit. D levels among a sample of obese women, describing some factors that may contribute for vit. D values in this sample and assess the correlation between vit. D levels and body mass index (BMI).
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 100 obese women. Their age ranged between (20-50) years, during the period from 1st February to 1st August 2019. The sample was gathered from laboratory of private medical center at Palestine Street in Baghdad. vit. D was measured by (Ichroma vit D), which is a fluorescence immunoassay.
Results: The mean±SD of vit. D values of the participants were found to be (16.05±6.9) ng/ml. Only two women from the sample had sufficient vit. D level of more than 30 ng/ml, (72%) of the participants found to have insufficient vit. D level 10-29.9 ng/ml and the remaining had deficiency in vit. D level <10 ng/ml. A significant association was found between vit. D levels and the age participants and beverages drinking (P≤0.01). Indirect correlation was found between vit. D values of the participants, their BMI values, and waist/ hip ratios and was significant with the last P≤0.012.
Conclusion: No association was found between vit. D and BMI, but there is indirect correlation between vit. D and waist/hip ratio. Highest deficiency of vit. D among age group (30-39) years old and among those who were drinking carbonated beverage.
Keywords: Obese, women, vitamin D, body mass index
Citation: Abdulkader HD, Al-Saffar AJ. Assessment of vitamin D level in a sample of Iraqi obese women. Iraqi JMS. 2021; 19(2): 172-181. doi: 10.22578/IJMS.19.2.6