Table 6.

Vitamin D status of ostensibly healthy subjects from other countries of the Indian subcontinent. All 25(OH)D values have been shown in ng/mL. To convert from nM to ng/mL, nM values were divided by (2.5). Vitamin D deficiency is defined as 25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL, insufficiency as 20–29 ng/mL and sufficiency as ≥30 ng/mL. Age of the subjects is in mean age(SD) years, unless otherwise indicated.

Locale	Study Subjects		25(OH)D (ng/mL)Mean (SD)	Vitamin D Status			Reference
				% Deficient	% Insufficient	% Sufficient
PAKISTAN
Lahore (31.5° N) & Rawalpindi (33.6° N)	N = 92	Adults, median age 29 (11–75) years, rural & urban.	Median 29.7 (3.0–63.1)	-	-	-	Rashid 1983 [139]
	N = 48	M	33.0 (11.0)	-	-	-
	N = 44	F	27.0 (11.3)	-	-	-
Karachi (24.8° N)	Total N = 123	Urban adults, age 32.7 (8.7) years, hospital staff	16.44 (3.84)	69.9	21.1	8.9	Mansoor 2010 [140]
	N = 53	F	14.88 (9.2)	-	-	-
	N = 70	M	17.64 (3.88)	-	-	-
Karachi (24.8° N)	N = 305	Urban adults, F, low, middle and high income groups equally represented, age 31.97 (8.00) years	8.70 (8.64)	90.5	5.2	4.3	Khan 2012 [141]
Karachi (24.8° N)	N = 50	Pregnant women, age 28.16 (4.4) years, low and middle income group	24.1 (11.70)	46	32	22	Karim 2011 [142]
	N = 50	Cord blood/neonates	20.4 (10.99)	-	-	-
Karachi (24.8° N)	N = 75	Pregnant women at term, age 26 (6.5) years, low income group	Preterm 16.89 (7.83)Term 13.19 (6.74)	72	17	11	Hossain 2011 [143]
	N = 75	Cord blood/neonates	Preterm 21.91 (9.73)Term 15.81 (9.56)	72	17	11
Karachi (24.8° N)	N = 62	Exclusively breastfed Infants	13.83 (10.62)	-	-	-	Atiq 1998 [144]
	N = 62	Mothers	12.8 (8.98)	-	-	-
	N = 37	Breastfed infants, age 6 weeks–11 months	8.98 (6.56)	-	-	-
	High income	Mothers, housewives, mostly indoors	10.6 (9.64)	-	-	-
	N = 25	Breastfed infants, age 6 weeks–11 months	20.93 (15.7)	-	-	-
	Low income	Mothers, working	15.90 (6.03)	-	-	-
BANGLADESH
Dhaka (23.7° N)	N = 99	Adults, F, low income level, age 16–40 years, 88% housewives	Median 14.68(range 10–48)	-	-	-	Islam 2002 [145]
	N = 90	Adults, F, high income level, age 16–40 years, 76% housewives	Median 17.4(range 10–48)	-	-	-
Dhaka (23.7° N)	N = 36	Adults, F, high income level, age 22.3 (1.9) years, unveiled	12.12 (9.04)	-	-	-	Islam 2006 [146]
	N = 30	Adults, F, medium income level, age 47.7 ( 9.4) years, veiled/purdah	12.4 (4.4)	-	-	-
Dhaka (23.7° N)	N = 200	Adults, F, urban factory workers, low income group, age 22.6 (3.7) years	14.68 (4.48)	88.5	-	-	Islam 2008 [147]
Sylhet (24.9° N)	N = 29	Infants, age 71 (32) days, 25 M, 4 F, rural, low income group	14.68 (6.84)	-	-	-	Roth 2010 [148]
Matlab (23.3° N)	N = 98	Cord blood, neonates of rural women/mothers, age 25.8 (5.9) years	Median 23·8 (18·6–30·8)	-	-	-	Doi 2011 [149]
Dhaka (23.7°N)	N = 76	Pregnant women, 20 weeks of gestation, age 21.55 (4) years	24.86 (1.02)	-	-	34.21	Ullah 2013 [150]
NEPAL
Sarlahi (26.5° N)	N = 1163	Rural F, pregnant, age 23.6 ± 6.0 years, gestational age 10.9 (4.6) week.	20.44 (9.85)	-	-	-	Jiang 2005 [151]
SRI LANKA
Kandy (7.2° N)	N = 85	Adults, M, age 47.0 (8.3) years.	25.2 (9.12)	34·1	-	-	Meyer 2008 [152]
	N = 111	Adults, F, age 46.4 (7.8) years.	18.96 (6.32)	58·6	-	-
Galle (6.2° N)	N = 122	Preschool children, M, age 45.93 (9.8) months	34.8 (13.4)	-	-	-	Hettiarachchi 2012 [153]
	N = 126	Preschool children, F, age 46.56 (8.5) months	32.62 (14.8)	-	-	-
No pertinent reports were available from Myanmar and Bhutan.