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Vitamin D deficiency is common among pregnant women in rural Victoria
Author(s) -
TEALE Glyn R.,
CUNNINGHAM Chris E.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-828x.2010.01147.x
Subject(s) - vitamin d deficiency , medicine , vitamin d and neurology , pregnancy , vitamin , sun exposure , population , environmental health , obstetrics , pediatrics , endocrinology , biology , genetics , dermatology
There is increasing evidence to implicate vitamin D deficiency in a variety of diseases. Previous advice has been to screen high‐risk pregnant women. This study shows that, despite abundant sunshine and latitude consistent with year‐long vitamin D synthesis, 65.5% of a largely low‐risk antenatal population in rural Victoria have insufficient vitamin D. Over 5.0% of women have vitamin D levels that pose a significant neonatal and adult health risk. These findings support routine antenatal testing of vitamin D levels.