Dietetic Cross Section Study on Vitamin D Deficiency in Tobruk, Libya

61 cases (24 males and 37 females) aged 17 to 75 years were randomly selected for vitamin D test. 89 participants (48 females (53.9%) and 41 males (46.1%)) were interviewed for a cross sectional study. They were asked to detail their nutritional habits throughout one year before suffering vitamin D deficiency. Questions were focused on family history, sunlight exposure, food allergy, exercise, smoking status and food intake from the major dietary containing vitamin D sources. Also, anthropometric measurements including weight, height, Body Mass Index (BMI) and Ideal Body Weight (IBW) were measured in multiple special laboratories. Among 61 cases, 24 (39.3%) women diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency, whereas 13 (21.3%) were with normal vitamin D level. As well as, 11 (18%) males were diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency and 13 (21.3%) were diagnosed with normal vitamin D level. One finding showed that women aged from 30 to 35 years mostly had lower vitamin D level than men because they are less exposure to sunlight than men due to social cultural issue. Approximately, 35 (57.4%) of 61 cases had vitamin D deficiency. Also, among 89 interviewed participants, 55 (61.8%) participants did not mostly expose to sunlight and didn’t eat foods containing vitamin D.