Our obsession with having and maintaining fair skin is one of the main contributing factors leading to vitamin D deficiency among Malaysians, including in young children, says an expert.
The head of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s (UKM) Nutrition Science Programme Prf Dr Poh Bee Koon said Malaysians were ingrained with the notion that having fair skin was important to being perceived as beautiful, leading to them shunning the sunlight and keeping under the shade.
“They do not expose themselves to the sun. Even if they do go out, they will wear something that will keep the sun away from them like sunscreen because the idea is being fair is beautiful,” The Rakyat Post reports her as saying.
Dr Poh, who is also the principal investigator for the Southeast Asia Nutrition Survey (Seanuts) in Malaysia, found that nearly half of children in Malaysia were vitamin D deficient, based on data collected in 2010 and 2011.
According to her, the level of vitamin D among Malaysians under the age of 12 was almost equivalent to that of people living in winter climate countries.
“This problem of wanting to be fair is not just faced by Malaysia, but also by Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, which is a pity as we have a lot of sun to be exposed to as a natural source of Vitamin D.”
Nutrition Society of Malaysia secretary Prof Dr Norimah A Karim said parents sometimes misunderstand the dangers behind exposing their children to sunlight, thus leading them to sequester their children indoors.
“It is okay to be exposed to the sun, especially around 10am until before noon. Be out there and spend your time outdoors as it is healthy, natural and a free source of Vitamin D for you and your kids,” she said.
Vitamin D deficiency is known to cause rickets (condition that causes bones to become soft and weak, which can lead to bone deformities), osteoporosis and autoimmune diseases.
Photo: Hiroaki Protagonist / Flickr
