Abstract

Objective: Due to the limited number of studies on the connection between Vitamin D deficiency and socioeconomic status (household income, number of family members, and parents’ education level) this research aimed to further investigate the relationship between socioeconomic state and vitamin D deficiency in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 378 children and adolescents in an ambulatory clinic at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was performed from March to September 2015. The parents answered a questionnaire with guidance from the researchers and consent was obtained to take a blood sample to check each child’s vitamin D level.

Results: The mean age was 9.5 ± 3, 9 years, and 1.9% had normal vitamin D levels. The mean vitamin D level was higher in low-income families than those with average and high incomes. The level was higher in families with less than 3 members than in families have 3 to 6 or more than 6 members. The mean vitamin D level was higher in families where the father was less educated or uneducated than in families where the father was highly educated. The mother’s education levels did not affect the mean vitamin D levels. On analysis with the Tukey test, we found that there was a significant difference in levels between families with low and medium income. The mean difference between low and average monthly income was 4.21 (p=0.034).

Conclusion: Low-income families had the highest mean vitamin D level. No significant correlations were found between vitamin D level and number of family members or parents’ educational level.

Keywords: Vitamin-D deficiency; Socioeconomic state; Household income; Household income and nutrition; Family size; Parent’s educational level