{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,23]],"date-time":"2026-09-23T20:40:54Z","timestamp":1790196054562,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":68,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,3]],"date-time":"2022-03-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1646265600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006013","name":"United Arab Emirates University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["College of Medicine and Health Sciences Grant NP09-30"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["College of Medicine and Health Sciences Grant NP09-30"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006013","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Vitamin D is important for bone health, and vitamin D deficiency could be linked to noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its associated risk factors among female migrants from Philippines, Arab, and South Asian countries residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We used a cross-sectional study to recruit a random sample (N = 550) of female migrants aged 18 years and over in the city of Al Ain, UAE. Vitamin D deficiency was defined as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations \u226420 ng\/mL (50 nmol\/L). We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to identify risk factors associated with vitamin D deficiency. The mean age of participants was 35 years (SD \u00b1 10). The overall prevalence rate of vitamin D deficiency was 67% (95% CI 60\u201373%), with the highest rate seen in Arabs (87%), followed by South Asians (83%) and the lowest in Filipinas (15%). Multivariate analyses showed that low physical activity (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 4.59; 95% CI 1.98, 10.63), having more than 5 years duration of residence in the UAE (aOR = 4.65; 95% CI: 1.31, 16.53) and being obese (aOR = 3.56; 95% CI 1.04, 12.20) were independently associated with vitamin D deficiency, after controlling for age and nationality. In summary, vitamin D deficiency was highly prevalent among female migrants, especially Arabs and South Asians. It is crucial that health professionals in the UAE become aware of this situation among this vulnerable subpopulation and provide intervention strategies aiming to rectify vitamin D deficiency by focusing more on sun exposure, physical activity, and supplementation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu14051074","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,3]],"date-time":"2022-03-03T20:36:30Z","timestamp":1646339790000},"page":"1074","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Vitamin D Deficiency and Its Associated Factors among Female Migrants in the United Arab Emirates"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1993-6656","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fatme Al","family":"Anouti","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Sciences, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi 144534, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5292-8212","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luai A.","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain 17666, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4715-5398","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Azmat","family":"Riaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ajman University, Ajman 20550, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1439-3285","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"William B.","family":"Grant","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center, P.O. Box 641603, San Francisco, CA 94164-1603, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nadir","family":"Shah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Planning and Development Division, Government of Gilgit Baltistan, Gilgit 15100, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raghib","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Public Health Research Center, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 129188, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2477-0408","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juma","family":"Alkaabi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain 17666, United Arab Emirates"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0956-465X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Syed M.","family":"Shah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain 17666, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi 3500, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"e10585","article-title":"Trends in Vitamin D Status Around the World","volume":"12","author":"Lips","year":"2020","journal-title":"JBMR Plus"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"647","DOI":"10.1111\/mcn.12210","article-title":"Global summary of maternal and newborn vitamin D status\u2014A systematic review","volume":"12","author":"Saraf","year":"2016","journal-title":"Matern. 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