Deficiency: Who is at Risk?
There are a range of reasons that a person may suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Some of the more common reasons are shown below.
People with limited sunlight exposure
There are many reasons why a person may have limited sun exposure. Some of the main reasons include:
- Wearing covering clothing for religious or cultural reasons
- Deliberately avoiding sun exposure for cosmetic or health reasons
- High risk of skin cancers
- Working long hours indoors
- People that are housebound, have disabilities or are in medium to long-term health/aged care
People with naturally dark skin
People with dark skin have higher levels of melanin which acts as a filter to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation and reduces the amount of vitamin D that the body makes.
Breast fed infants
Breastmilk does not contain much vitamin D and coupled with the fact that babies do not spend much time in the sun means they are at risk of being deficient. Babies get their initial store of vitamin D from their mother so if their mother is deficient they are at greater risk of deficiency.
Overweight or obese people
As a fat soluble vitamin, vitamin D can get locked up in the fat stores of obese people so it is unavailable for use by the body.
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