The Effects of Latitude and Temperate Weather on Vitamin D Deficiency and Women's Reproductive Health: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Introduction: We conducted a scoping review to analyze the effects and implications of vitamin D deficiency on female reproductive health during the last decade, considering temperate planetary zones and climate change impacts.

Methods: We used a qualitative methodology for a panoramic database review of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus covering articles from the last decade focused on populations living at latitudes higher than 40° N and 40° S. As descriptors, we used the phrases climate change, cholecalciferol or vitamin d3, pregnancy, and woman health and the Boolean operators AND and OR. We excluded letters to the editor, reviews, protocols, and clinical trials without human participants, as well as duplicate articles.

Results: We included 35 studies in English, the majority of which were from North America or Europe. No studies were found from the Southern Hemisphere or having any direct relation with climate change, although studies demonstrated that latitude and environmental factors affected vitamin D deficiency, which had an impact on pregnant women and their children. Supplementation guidelines were not well developed, and there was a lack of studies among at-risk groups of women (eg, darker skin, higher latitudes, immigrants) across the life span.

Discussion: Vitamin D deficiency is a global environmental problem that affects female reproductive health and depends on multiple environmental factors and human behavior. Therefore, we recommend consideration of environmental and sociocultural factors in public policy and clinical research and more research on the effectiveness of supplementation and fortification strategies. Health care professionals working in reproductive health need to generate actions for detection of, education on, and prevention of vitamin D deficiency among women across their life spans, considering the multicausality of the phenomenon, which includes environmental and climate factors in population health.

Keywords: climate change; dihydroxycholecalciferols; latitude; pregnancy health; vitamin D deficiency.