Awareness of Deficiency Diseases of Calcium and Vitamin D Among Bangladeshi Men in Dhaka and Chadpur

Abstract

Calcium is essential in maintaining total body health, normal growth and development, metabolizing iron, helping blood clotting & regulating blood pressure, keeping bones & teeth strong over lifetime, activity in a number of hormones, cell structure etc. Vitamin D is required for regulation of cell growth, bone formation, immune function, muscle strength, hair growth, reducing autoimmune disease, fighting infection etc. Previous works intended to determine the status of these micronutrients in local population have reported that the people in Bangladesh are at high risk of calcium insufficiency and hypovitaminosis D related health complications. Lack of awareness and insufficient knowledge of the essentiality of these two nutrients are assumed to cause this problem in Bangladesh. The present study was designed and conducted to establish a basic understanding on the level of gap of knowledge and awareness among the deficiency diseases of calcium and vitamin D among Bangladeshi men in Dhaka and Chadpur in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a one of the most overpopulated country in the world. That‘s why the most important part in living is to be as healthy as possible avoiding all the diseases. This was a survey based study with male respondents from Dhaka city and Chadpur. They were interviewed with a questionnaire, and 200 male respondents participated in this survey. The age of the male respondents were from 17-35 and they were not from the biological sciences background. From the survey it was found that the majority of men respondents know calcium & vitamin D is essential for normal body physiological function. The male respondent of this study largely know about milk, meat, cheese, fish, egg and others as calcium containing food sources. They also know about meat, liver, milk, eggs, banana, sunlight, fish oil, vegetables oil and others as a vitamin D containing food sources. They also learned about calcium from the sources of books, teachers, doctors, family and others. Most of the participants on this study do not know about the daily intake of Calcium and vitamin D. The men respondents were mostly aware of calcium and vitamin D deficiency diseases that occur in children. Most of the population on this study thought that women are more affected by osteoporosis than men. They also give a good response about the daily sunlight exposure which is less than 1 hour daily. So according to the Bangladesh perspective majority of the population do not know about the importance of calcium and vitamin D. We need to take adequate step to teach more about the importance of calcium and vitamin D in their day to day life.