determination of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d concentration level in lactating women and factors affecting it in islam abad gharb (2004)

introduction: vitamin d deficiency is still a common serious health problem among women of reproductive age and their infants in developing countries at the outset of the third millennium. information on vitamin d status of urban lactating women in islam abad gharb is not available, but it seems that, as in other physiologic groups in other areas of iran, vitamin d deficiency may be common there, too. the aims of this study were: 1) to determine the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d concentration and its association with independent variables (age, occupation, family size), and 2) to determine the vitamin d status of urban lactating women and its association with the independent variables.    materials & method: in this descriptive analytical cross-sectional study, using a simple randomized sampling technique, a total of 155 lactating women, whose babies were less than 12 months, were selected from 8 urban health centers in islam abad gharb in winter 2004. a general questionnaire was completed to obtain information on age, occupation, family size, and   fasting blood samples were taken for biochemical analysis .the concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin d in serum was measured by chemiluminescence method. normal status, moderate deficiency, and sever deficiency were defined as a concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin d serum ≥ 10 ng/ml, 6ng/ml ≤ concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin d serum < 10 ng/ml, and vitamin d deficiency as concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin d< 6 ng/ml. results: the results revealed that the mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d concentration was 5.36 ng/ml.  8.4% of women had a normal status, 18.7% and 72.9% suffered from moderate and severe deficiency. age and family size affected the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d negatively.  also working women had a significantly better vitamin d status than housewives. conclusion : we conclude that vitamin d status of urban lactating women is poor and needs immediate attention.