Diet, Genetics, and Disease: A Focus on the Middle East and North Africa Region

Table 2

Rates of Vitamin D deficiency and iron deficiency in MENA countries from different studies.

Vitamin D deficiency (VDD)
Iran	Prevalence (%), [girls], [adolescent]	Up to 70	Moussavi et al. [143]
Jordan	Prevalence (%),
	[adult females]	37.3	Batieha et al. [144]
	[adult males]	5.1
Lebanon	Prevalence (%),
	[girls]	32	El-Hajj Fuleihan et al. [145, 146]
	[boys]	9–12
Morocco (Rabat)	Prevalence (%), [women]	91	Arabi et al. [147]
Saudi Arabia	Prevalence (%), [girls], [adolescent]	Up to 80	Siddiqui and Kamfar [148]
Tunisia (Ariana)	Prevalence (%), [women], [Age: 20–60]	47.6	Arabi et al. [147]
Turkey (Ankara)	Prevalence (%),
	[mothers]	46	Arabi et al. [147]
	[newborns]	80
Iron deficiency
Arab Gulf countries	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [preschool age]	20–67	Musaiger [149]
	[children], [school age]	12.6–50
	[pregnant women]	22.7–54
Bahrain	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [Age: 6–59 months]	48	Bagchi [150]
	[women], [Age: 15–49]	37.3
Egypt	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [Age: 6–59 months]	25	Bagchi [150]
	[women], [Age: 15–49]	11
Iran	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [Age: 6–59 months]	15–30	Bagchi [150]
	[women], [Age: 15–49]	33.4
Jordan	Prevalence (%),[children], [school age]	20	Bagchi [150]
	Prevalence (%), [women], [Age: 15–49]	28
Lebanon	Prevalence (%), [children], [Age: 6–59 months]	23	Bagchi [150]
Morocco	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [Age: 6–59 months]	35	Bagchi [150]
	[women], [Age: 15–49]	30.1
Oman	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [Age: 5–14]	41	Bagchi [150]
	[women], [Age: 15–49]	40
Pakistan	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [Age: 6–59 months]	60	Bagchi [150]
	[women], [Age: 15–49]	30
Palestine	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [Age: 6–59 months]	53	Bagchi [150]
	[women], [Age: 15–49]	36.2
Saudi Arabia	Prevalence (%), [children], [preschool age]	17	Bagchi [150]
Syria	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [Age: 6–59 months]	23	Bagchi [150]
	[women], [Age: 15–49]	40.8
UAE	Prevalence (%),
	[children], [Age: 6–59 months]	34	Bagchi [150]
	[pregnant women]	14
Yemen	Prevalence (%), [children], [preschool age]	70	Bagchi [150]

Different limits of blood levels define VDD, ranging from insufficiency to severe deficiency, similar for Iron deficiency. UAE: United Arab Emirates [147, 150].