Veils `limit vitamin D’
Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 20 Apr 2009: 5.
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Abstract
Researchers found that 147 out of 149 adult and child North African refugees living in southwestern Sydney who took part in a health-screening program were vitamin D deficient.
Full Text
AFRICAN refugees and Muslim Australians who wear veils should be screened every year for vitamin D deficiency, according to a study to be published in TheMedical Journal of Australia today.
Researchers found that 147 out of 149 adult and child North African refugees living in southwestern Sydney who took part in a health-screening program were vitamin D deficient. Study co-author Craig Munns, a specialist at Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney, has urged people in at risk groups to take daily vitamin D supplements.
He said the darker people’s skin, the more sunlight they required to synthesise the amount of vitamin D they required.
Credit: John Stapleton