Tuesday, October 30

Wear the veil and get Rickets

Well, I suppose this had to happen and get reported. Because of bad dietary habits and covering up with a veil, South Asians in the UK are getting rickets. I quote:

Experts said vitamin D, which is unique in being produced primarily by exposure to sunlight, was a relatively common deficiency among Asian immigrants, because of their darker skin, and Islam's requirements for clothing to cover limbs.

Until about 10 years ago, Government policy required that all health authorities gave out vitamin supplements to people from the Indian subcontinent, but then it was decided that it was no longer necessary.

Blackburn with Darwen's PCT, along with many around the country, stopped giving them out, but the practice continued in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

Dr Ellis Friedman, director of public health for East Lancashire PCT, said: "Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale was unusual in continuing with it, but it led to a natural experiment.

"When my directorate looked to see what had happened to the incidence of rickets, we found it was four times higher in Blackburn and Darwen. We cannot of course be absolutely certain why, but it seems very likely that it is because of the vitamin policy."

Dr Friedman said the problem was linked to cultural factors, not deprivation.

He said: "Once you exclude a number of vary rare cases where there is some other underlying condition, virtually every case is someone from the Asian community.

"It is caused by a combination of skin colouration, diet and dress, not poverty. We don't, for example, find rickets in deprived white communities."

But Councillor Roy Davies, chairman of Blackburn with Darwen Council's health scrutiny committee, said Asian women should think about the health risks of covering up, particularly during pregnancy.

He said: "The Asian community must take this on board. We want people to live longer and more healthily.

"It is up to the Asian councillors and the Imams to get the message through, because it will be most effective coming from them."

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