Shadows on the sunshine vitamin: Assessment of vitamin D knowledge among Bishkek’s university students
Paper Details
Shadows on the sunshine vitamin: Assessment of vitamin D knowledge among Bishkek’s university students
Abstract
Vitamin D is critical in bone health, immunity, and mental well-being. Despite its importance, awareness and proper intake remain low in many regions, including central Asia. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the awareness, sources of knowledge, lifestyle habits, and perceptions regarding vitamin D among 220 university students in Kyrgyzstan. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on sun exposure, dietary habits, supplement use, and perceived health effects of vitamin D. Results indicated that although most participants had heard of vitamin D, a majority lacked regular sun exposure, rarely consumed vitamin D-rich foods, and were unaware of their vitamin D status. Only a minority had been tested for deficiency. The findings highlight a need for increased educational campaigns and routine screening for vitamin D levels among the youth in Kyrgyzstan.
Adjei K, Mensah A, Owusu P. 2025. Awareness and immune function association of vitamin D in Ghana’s Jaman South District. Afr J Health Sci 12(3), 45–53.
Ahn J, Yu K, Stolzenberg-Solomon R, Simon KC, McCullough ML, Gallicchio L, Jacobs EJ, Ascherio A, Helzlsouer K, Hunter DJ, Chanock SJ, Hayes RB. 2015. Public health implications of vitamin D deficiency in developing countries. Lancet Global Health 3(8), e454–e465.
Alamoudi LH, Almuteeri RZ, Al-Otaibi ME, Alshaer DA, Fatani SK, Alghamdi MM, Safdar OY. 2019. Awareness of vitamin D deficiency among the general population in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. J Nutr Metab 2019, 4138187.
Algahtani FD, Alahmadi A, Aljohani N, Alzahrani S, Alzahrani A. 2021. Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding vitamin D deficiency among general population in Saudi Arabia. BMC Public Health 21(1), 1301.
Al-Lawati J, Al-Harthy S, Al-Mahrouqi A. 2022. Vitamin D knowledge among health-science undergraduates in Oman. Middle East J Med Educ 9(4), 200–10.
Alwadei AMA, Al-Johani NSM, Al Zamanan SSM, Alwadei AMA, Hassanein M. 2018. Public awareness of vitamin D deficiency among children in Najran City and the role of primary health care centers in raising their awareness. Egypt J Hosp Med 70(12), 2100–9.
Anglin RE, Samaan Z, Norman AW. 2013. Vitamin D deficiency and depression in adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Psychiatry 202(2), 100–7.
Berk M, Williams LJ, Jacka FN. 2013. Vitamin D deficiency may play a role in depression. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 47(8), 679–86.
Blebil AQ, Dujaili JA, Teoh E, Wong PS, KC B. 2019. Assessment of awareness, knowledge, attitude, and the practice of vitamin D among the general public in Malaysia. J Karnali Acad Health Sci 2(3), 171–80.
Cantorna MT, Mahon BD. 2015. Vitamin D and autoimmunity: Is vitamin D status an environmental factor influencing autoimmune disease prevalence? Environ Health Perspect 123(5), 390–4.
Dawodu A, Wagner C. 2018. Vitamin D knowledge and awareness in a multicultural population in Australia. J Nutr Sci 7, e7.
Forouhi NG, Luan JA. 2012. Baseline serum vitamin D levels and risk of type 2 diabetes: A nested case-control study. Diabetes Care 35(8), 1637–41.
Holick MF. 2007. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med 357(3), 266–81. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra070553
Holick MF. 2017. The vitamin D deficiency pandemic: Approaches for diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Rev Endocr Metab Disord 18(2), 153–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-017-9424-1
Jeng CY, Hsu HC. 2012. Vitamin D supplementation lowered blood pressure in those with hypertension: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 95(5), 1077–83. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.111.031695
Kalivas A, Papadopoulos N, Georgiou D. 2024. Integrating vitamin D education into university health curricula: Lessons from Greece and the UK. J Nutr Educ 20(1), 30–42.
Kalivas A, Papadopoulos N, Georgiou D. 2024. Vitamin D awareness and dosage misconceptions among Greek adults. J Nutr Sci 15(2), 120–30.
Kendler DL, Tice JA. 2011. The role of vitamin D in the prevention of musculoskeletal and immune-related diseases. Bone 48(5), 865–74.
Kollias N, Beis I. 2013. Vitamin D deficiency and bone health in the Middle East and South Asia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 98(4), 1834–43.
Lee HS, Johnson D, Anderson M. 2022. Vitamin D knowledge among pregnant women in the United States: A cross-sectional study. Matern Child Health J 26(5), 874–81.
Lips P. 2001. Vitamin D deficiency and secondary hyperparathyroidism in the elderly: Consequences for bone loss and fractures and therapeutic implications. Endocr Rev 22(4), 477–501.
Macdonald HM, Mavroeidi A, Barr RD. 2020. Public knowledge and awareness of vitamin D and its health implications in the UK. Public Health Nutr 23(13), 2334–40.
Mason C, da Silva M, Cavanagh P. 2012. Vitamin D supplementation and cardiovascular disease: A review. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 97(12), 4529–37.
Meltzer DO, Best TJ. 2020. Association of vitamin D status and COVID-19 outcomes. Front Public Health 8, 125.
Mithal A, Wahl DA, Bonjour JP, Burckhardt P, Dawson-Hughes B, Eisman JA. 2009. Global vitamin D status and determinants of hypovitaminosis D. Osteoporos Int 20(11), 1807–20.
O’Connor S, Brown T, Smith L. 2018. Public knowledge of vitamin D sources and fortification in the United Kingdom. Nutr Health 24(1), 50–8.
Tariq A, Khan SR, Basharat A. 2020. Assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practice towards vitamin D among university students in Pakistan. BMC Public Health 20, 355.
Weaver CM, Proulx WR, Heaney RP. 2016. Vitamin D and bone health. Am J Clin Nutr 104(3), 700–7.
Zhao G. 2013. Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease: A review. J Am Coll Cardiol 62(5), 437–46.
Zhumanazarova A, Tursunov B. 2023. Social media as a health information channel in Kyrgyzstan: Opportunities for digital public health campaigns. Cent Asian J Public Health 11(2), 105–15.
Muhammad Zeeshan Arif, Jamshed Qasim, Divya Pathak, Mirza Masroor Ali Beg, 2025. Shadows on the sunshine vitamin: Assessment of vitamin D knowledge among Bishkek’s university students. Int. J. Biosci., 27(4), 191-202.
Copyright © 2025 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.