Level of awareness about vitamin D among adolescent college students

Abstract

Vitamin D deficiency is a significant health problem for men and women in certain South Asian countries due to a lack of vitamin D-rich diets, dark skin color, cultural and spiritual practices that encourage the wearing of concealing garments. The aim of this study was to assess the level of awareness about vitamin D among adolescent college students in Dhaka City. This descriptive type of Cross-sectional study was carried out at the Department of Public Health, North South University, Dhaka from June 2022 to August 2022. 16 to19 years adolescent college students (n=384) were the study population. Purposive sampling was done according to availability of the subjects. All the data were compiled and sorted properly and the quantitative data was analyzed statistically by using Statistical Package for Social Science. Most of the participants (n=265, 69%) belongs between the age group 17-18 years of age. Most of the participants (85%) were female. Most of the respondents (97.4%) were from the Muslim community. Most of the participants (72%) were HSC first-year students in college. In our study about half (47.9%) of respondents’ family income was between 21,000 BDT to 30,000 BDT. In our study 100% participants heard about Vitamin D. 90.1% participants knows about Vitamin D deficiency. 95.8% of participants know about sources of vitamin D. 92.5% of participants know about the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. One relationship was found where a good knowledge of Vitamin D deficiency was found among the participant whose family incomes were higher and it is statistically significant (p-value <0.000). This study revealed that there is a tremendous opportunity to raise students’ awareness about vitamin D.