Title:Vitamin D Fortified Food Intake: Do We Know and Consume Enough:
A Cross-Sectional Study in Jazan, Saudi Arabia
Volume: 20
Issue: 1
Author(s): Mohammed Somaili*, Areej Areeshi, Entsar Qadah, Naif Gharwi, Abdullah Madkhali, Khalid Muafa, Atheer Akoor, Raghad Mobaraki, Saleh Ghulaysi, Mohsen Deibaji, Abdulrahman Aqeel, Omar Oraibi, Ahmad Sayed, Abo-Obaida Yassin and Bashayer Khormi
Affiliation:
- Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
Keywords:
Knowledge, perceptions, vitamin D-fortified food, Jazan, Saudi Arabia, attitude.
Abstract:
Background: Vitamin D plays a very important role in the human body. In Saudi Arabia,
the sun exposure is limited for many reasons. The use of vitamin D-fortified food or supplements
may complement the daily body requirements. The knowledge and perception of the general
population towards vitamin D-fortified intake in Jazan, Saudi Arabia, are not known.
Objectives: In this study, we aim to evaluate the knowledge and attitude toward vitamin Dfortified
food intake among the general population in the Jazan region.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study using the convenient sampling
method on the Jazan general population. The questionnaire was composed of questions distributed
over three domains. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23. Frequency
and percentages were used to display categorical variables. Mean and standard deviation were
used to present numerical variables. The independent t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA)
test were both used to test for factors associated with knowledge and perception score.
Results: A total of 921 participants were included in the study. The majority of participants
(72.2%) were between 20 and 40 years; the female gender and Saudi nationality represent the majority
of participants in this study. In terms of occupation, 32.9% were currently employed, and
44.5% were students. Regarding education, 64.9% had a bachelor’s degree, and 19.9% had a high
school education. The minimum knowledge score was 0, the maximum was 25, and the mean was
10.6 + 4.35.
The knowledge levels toward the vitamin D-fortified food intake showed that 64.9% had a moderate
knowledge level. With regard to the assessment of participants’ perception towards vitamin
D-fortified food intake, 69.6% reported having a vitamin D-rich food before, while 5.8% reported
they never did, and 34.6% did not know. The most commonly reported reason for never having
vitamin D-fortified food was not knowing what food to take for 19 participants (35.8%). Occupation
and education levels of participants were significantly associated with knowledge of vitamin
D-fortified food intake.
Conclusion: Despite the population in the current study having a moderate level of knowledge
about vitamin D-fortified food, the practices towards intake of vitamin D-fortified food or supplements
are still underused.
