ABR Vol 8 [5] September 2017 212 | P age ©2017 Society of Education, India Advances in Bioresearch Adv. Biores., Vol 8 (5) September 2017: 212‐218 ©2017 Society of Education, India Print ISSN 0976‐4585; Online ISSN 2277‐1573 Journal’s URL:http://www.soeagra.com/abr.html CODEN: ABRDC3 DOI: 10.15515/abr.0976‐4585.8.5.212218 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Assessment of awareness, attitude and practices of vitamin D health impact among Saudi residents of Hotat Bani Tammim, South Riyadh Nora A. Al-Tamimi 1 , Gamal A. Gabr 2,3 , Al-Khalifa, A.S. 4 and Nahla M. M. Hassan 5 1 Home Economic Department, College of Education, Prince Sattam Bin Abdullaziz University, Al‐Kharj, KSA. 2 Pharmacology Department, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdullaziz University, Al‐Kharj, KSA. 3 Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research institute, Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt. 4 Department of Food Sconce and Nutrition,College of Food and Agriculture SciencesKing Saud University, Riyadh, KSA. 5 Food Technology Research Institute, Agric. Res. Center, Giza, Egypt. Email: g.gabr@psau.edu.sa ABSTRACT Vitamin deficiency is considered to be a major public health problem in Saudi Arabia, especially during summer.The major source of vitamin D is sun exposure. People have been exposed to a lot of information regarding vitamin D, with evidence suggesting that vitamin D may be involved in numerous health conditions, subsequently creating concerns about vitamin D insufficiency. In this study, we aimed to assess the awareness, attitude and practice of vitamin D among Saudi residence of HotatBaniTammim in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Total of 96 participants were selected with equal numbers of male and female ratio (46 each). The mean serum vitamin D was observed as 11.48±6.30 ng/ml for females and 18.49±8.30 ng/ml for males. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was significantly greater in the female group with 42.6%, as compared to only 7.55% among males in these groups. Moreover, 4.16% of females were having their BMI less than 18.5, 12.5% with BMI more than 30, and 41.66% of females were having their BMI ranging from 18.5 to 29.9. In males, 20.82% were having BMI ranging from 18.5 to 24.9, 37.5% were having more than 30 BMI whereas 41.66% of males were having their BMI ranging from 25 to 29.9. In the conclusion, we found those participants with sufficient knowledge about vitamin D intake and its role in maintaining normal health were more cautious about vitamin D besides the other reasons for low vitamin D levels such as especially in females less exposure to sun and covering their whole body which is part of cultural values in Saudi Arabia. This awareness could lead to actions that potentially improve vitamin D levels through food, supplements, and safe sun exposure. Keywords: Vitamin DDeficiency, HotatBaniTammim,knowledge and practice, Saudi females. Received 05/06/2017 Revised 19/07/2017 Accepted 27/08/2017 How to cite this article: Nora A. Al‐Tamimi, Gamal A. Gabr, Al‐Khalifa, A.S. and Nahla M. M. Hassan. Assessment of awareness, attitude and practices of vitamin D health impact among Saudi residents of Hotat Bani Tammim, South Riyadh . . Adv. Biores., Vol 8 [5] September 2017: 212‐218 INTRODUCTION Despite of the advancement in the awareness of human health, vitamin D deficiency is still an unrecognized epidemic and a common health problem worldwide, including Saudi Arabia. A research conducted on healthy Saudi adults revealed that low levels of vitamin D is common among the Saudi Arabian population[1]. Among adults, vitamin D sufficiency is defined as serum levels of 25(OH)D >30ng/ml and levels of 20‐29 ng/ml are considered as vitamin D insufficiency whilelevels <20ng/ml are considered a vitamin D deficiency whereas<7 ng/mL considered a severe vitamin D deficiency [2]. Low serum levels of vitamin D might be detrimental to health, as multiple reports suggest health concerns for those with insufficient serum vitamin D levels compared to those with normal levels[3].Sunlight is Advances in Bioresearch