So I’m getting my hair cut from this nice woman from Thailand the other day. I can’t remember how it came up, but I started talking about vitamin D. She proceeds to tell me how so many of her friends back home in Thailand avoid the sun like the plague in order to have pale skin. A pale complexion has been quite the fashion trend in much of Asia for some time now.

I pulled this quote from a message board about various Asian topics:

“its freaking crazy in Asia, hong kong , vietnam…it gets so hot and humid there but women still wear long sleeves, long pants and that crazy face shield to block the sun so that they don’t tan…”

Until now, I hadn’t thought about this topic in relationship to vitamin D deficiency. I’ve seen many Asian women over the years hiding themselves from the sunlight (here in the United States).

There are some historical cultural reasons for this phenomena; being tan use to mean you were a lower class laborer working in the fields, having a more pale complexion meant you were more well-off. I’m guessing that there are those who use an umbrella or other similar sun-shade to get relief from the extreme heat that Asia is prone to who are not just buying into a fashion trend?

I would hope that there are some good vitamin D proponent types in Asia who warn these women about possible vitamin D deficiency. It would be interesting to get some D blood levels on these ladies. It sure seems a little strange to be so close to the equator (Thailand is at 15 degrees north of it) and still be vulnerable to deficiency of this vital nutrient.