Abstract

This work is an attempt to find correlations among vitamin D status (deficiency/insufficiency), body mass index, age, blood pressure, sex, and physical activities in the male and female Saudi population. A total of 55 adult patients aged 25-70 years (37 women and 18 men) were recruited from an outpatient clinic of King Khalid and King Abdul- Aziz Hospitals, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They were asked to answer a survey to indicate their exposure to sun, physical activities and nutritional status related to vitamin D. Their BMI and diastolic and systolic blood pressure were measured. They were divided into two age groups (<40 years old and >40 years old). The obtained data demonstrate that while a non-significant correlation was observed between vitamin D deficiency and BMI in young participants, a significant correlation was recorded in the older group. Males deficient in vitamin D were more susceptible to having high blood pressure than females. A relationship between vitamin D status and physical activities in the two studied age groups was also observed. The inverse relationship between vitamin D levels and hypertension in older males can help to suggest supplementation with vitamin D and encouragement for participation in physical activities as a preventive strategy in the Saudi population with a common and repeatedly reported impaired vitamin D status(deficiency/insufficiency).

Keywords: Vitamin D; Blood pressure; Body mass index; Physical activities; Sex; Age

Abbreviations: WHO: World Health Organization; BMI: Body Mass Index