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Background: Vitamin D deficiency can adversely affect women’s health and their offspring. Studies have uncovered many determinants of vitamin D; however, few have explored its relationship with socioeconomic status. Objectives: We aimed to determine the serum 25(OH)D level and its relationship with socioeconomic status. Methods: We recruited 182 women between the ages of 18 years to 65 years from eastern Nepal from a previous study. Sociodemographic variables were obtained from a semi-structured questionnaire and used to construct separate and aggregate indicators of socioeconomic status. The association of these indicators with vitamin D status was examined. We used serum 25(OH)D levels as a measure of vitamin D status and classified them as deficient (< 20 ng/mL), insufficient (20 - 29 ng/mL), and sufficient (30 - 100 ng/mL). Results: Median serum 25(OH)D was 18.6 ng/mL (25th - 75th percentile 14.3 - 23.9). Out of the total participants, 103 (56.5%) had serum 25(OH)D < 20 ng/ml, 61 (33.5%) had 20 - 29 ng/mL, and 18 (9.9%) had ≥ 30 ng/mL. The association between vitamin D status and socioeconomic indicators was assessed using the chi-square test or Fischer’s exact test. Significant associations were found with total household income/month (P = 0.006), and income to poverty ratio (P = 0.005). Conclusions: Women living in low-income houses and poverty have a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency.

Objective. To estimate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the eastern part of Nepal and identify the sociodemographic factors associated with it. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 324 participants between the ages 18 and 65 years from the Sunsari and Morang districts of Nepal. A semi-structured questionnaire helped obtain sociodemographic data followed by anthropometric measurements and blood sampling. 25(OH)D level was measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) via a fully automated Maglumi 1000 analyzer (SNIBE Co., Ltd., China). Serum 25(OH)D was classified as deficient, insufficient, and sufficient ( p = 0.02 ), duration of sun exposure (chi-square test = 15.1, p = 0.004 ), type of meat intake (Fisher’s exact test is 16.4, p = 0.01 ), frequency of fish intake (Fisher’s exact test is 19.3, p = 0.001 ), and frequency of dairy intake (chi-square test=11.2, p = 0.02 ). In multivariate regression, consumption of dairy products ≥3/week had lower OR (95% CI) (0.3(0.1–0.8) p : 0.02 ) and weekly fish consumption had lower OR (95% CI) (0.06(0.008–0.6) p : 0.01 ) for vitamin D deficiency. Conclusion. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was relatively high in eastern Nepal. This highlights the need to create public awareness regarding the importance of bare skin sun exposure, nutritional sources of vitamin D, and the need to implement food fortification policies by the government.