Back to school in UAE: 75% of students have vitamin D deficiency, eye problems, say hospitals

Back to school in UAE: 75% of students have vitamin D deficiency, eye problems, say hospitals

UAE - Some UAE hospitals, including those offering free health check-ups ahead of the school reopening, have reported 70 to 75 per cent students being deficient in vitamin D and having vision-related problems. A good few have gained weight too.

Based on the lab results of 50 students who came for free check-ups in the past few days, Dr Dhanya P. Menon, specialist, pathologist, Abu Dhabi’s Phoenix Hospital, noted that three-fourth of the students didn’t have enough vitamin D in their bodies on account of minimal exposure to the sun.

“Vitamin D level above 30 ng/ml is considered acceptable. Anything between 20 ng/ml to 30 ng/ml is inadequate. And less than 20 ng/ml is deficient. Insufficient levels were expected as children weren’t going out during summer and leading a sedentary lifestyle but we found most of them having very low levels of vitamin D. More than 75 per cent of children were found to be deficient in vitamin D,” Dr Dhanya told Khaleej Times.

Echoing similar views, Dr Babitha Sudarsanan, specialist paediatrics, LLH Hospital, Musaffah, said that because of scorching summer heat, children stayed indoors and didn’t get the sunshine vitamin. “Vitamin D deficiency is common among children during summer season.”

According to official