Saudi Gazette In a country that has such a rich variety and abundance of food, the high rate of calcium deficiency among young women has only one explanation: They are making poor nutritional and lifestyle choices. Dr. Lulwa Abdul Lateef Babtain, assistant professor in the Nutrition and Food Sciences Department at Princess Noura University, urged women in Saudi Arabia to become more physically active, get regular exposure to sunlight and eat more calcium-rich foods in order to avoid developing osteoporosis. This bone disease which causes the bones to become more porous, weak and easily fractured is widespread among Saudi women. It turns out that a low level of vitamin D has other negative effects, in addition to reducing the absorption of calcium and contributing to osteoporosis. Dr. Babtain said that vitamin D deficiency is also linked to obesity, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, arteriosclerosis and heart disease. Low levels of vitamin D also cause hormonal imbalances that may result in lowered immunity and even diabetes. “Vitamin D and calcium deficiency is so widespread in the young, female population of the Kingdom that deficiency levels were as high as 71 percent in the year 2003. Such high rates of calcium deficiency are attributed to the low consumption of milk, yogurt and dairy products. Teenage girls these days often replace milk with beverages that have virtually no nutritive value but are high in sugar, such as soft drinks, commercially prepared fruit juices and sweetened tea and coffee,” Dr. Babtain said. According to Dr. Babtain, the best source of vitamin D is the sunlight because vitamin D is not found in a large range of foods so it would be difficult to obtain adequate levels of vitamin D from the diet alone. “Food sources of vitamin D are very limited, and vitamin D is found in foods that are not popular in Saudi society. Seafood is very rich in vitamin D but it is not the food of choice for most young women in the Kingdom. Studies have revealed the presence of rickets and osteoporosis in young and adolescent girls in the Kingdom between the ages of 5 and 18. Women have a higher risk of developing osteoporosis than men because women have less exposure to the sunrays. “A study conducted on 228 schoolchildren in the Kingdom showed that children who regularly drank sodas, fruit juices, tea and coffee had weak and poorly developed bones compared with children who relied on milk as their main beverage,” Dr. Babtain also said. Dr. Babtain led a study of teenage girls in the Kingdom, and in this particular sample of students, she discovered that 99 percent of the girls had below average levels of vitamin D as a result of lack of sun exposure. Dr. Babtain said that the only time these girls were getting skin-to-sunlight contact was in the brief moment they go to and from school, which was not enough. __
