Copyright © February, 2015; IJPAB 64 Sunlight Exposure Increases Vitamin D Status of Young Adult Emirati Females with Hypovitaminosis Fatme Al Anouti, 1 * Afrozul Haq 2 , Justin Thomas, 1 Laila Abdel-Wareth, 3 and Jaishen Rajah 3 1 Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 2 R & D Division, VPS Healthcare , P.O. Box 94666, Building No.55, Defense Road, Najdah Street, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 3 Institute of Laboratory Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates INTRODUCTION Vitamin D has recently become a focus of attention for several researchers not only because of its importance for bone turnover and integrity 1,2 but because of its association with reduced risk against several chronic morbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, multiple sclerosis and many types of cancer 3,4 . Hypovitaminosis has become a global public health burden that has serious consequences among individuals from all age groups. Inadequate skin exposure to sunlight and low dietary intake of Available online at www.ijpab.com ISSN: 2320 – 7051 Int. J. Pure App. Biosci. 3 (1): 64-70 (2015) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PURE & APPLIED BIOSCIENCE Research Article ABSTRACT Vitamin D deficiency is widely common among nationals of the Arabic Gulf region despite the abundance of sunshine throughout the year. We investigated in a pilot study whether advised sun exposure for 12 weeks could improve the vitamin D status of young adult Emirati females. A convenience sample of Emirati females (N=114) attending a federal university in Abu Dhabi were invited to participate in the study. After assessment of vitamin D status, a total of ten females with hypovitaminosis were randomly selected as sunlight exposure intervention group. Participants in the intervention group agreed to expose the face, arms and hands for a total of 60 minutes per week without the use of sunscreen. All sunlight exposure sessions were done privately and recorded in a diary for documentation by the participant herself. A natural none-intervention control group of participants (N=10) who did not seek any treatment despite the advise was considered for comparison. Serum concentrations of 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD), anthropometric and lifestyle variables related to sun exposure were all measured in each participant at baseline and after 12 weeks. Results demonstrated that mean serum 25(OH)D concentrations for the intervention group increased from 10.50 ± 5.37 ng/mL at baseline to 19.52 ± 11.67 ng/mL after 12 weeks. The increase was statistically significant as revealed by the t-test t [18]= 2.61, p< 0.05 (Cohen’s d= 1.23). On the other hand, the mean serum 25(OH)D concentrations for the natural control group dropped slightly after 12 weeks from 10.92 ± 6.23 ng/mL to 9.02 ± 4.97 ng/mL. Even though there was no statistical difference in the sun avoidance index between the 2 groups (difference =-2.1; SE ± 6.4 P=0.74), however, some extra sun exposure resulted in statistically and clinically important differences in the vitamin D concentration between the groups (P=0.01). This study showed that sunlight exposure could be a simple but effective way to improve vitamin D status among female Emiratis who minimize sun exposure to the skin due to heat and both cultural and religious reasons. Further investigations should include a group of participants with supplements and increase the sample size. Keywords: Vitamin D deficiency, Sunlight exposure, Emirati females, United Arab Emirates.