Over 57 per cent of patients tested for Vitamin D levels in 2017 had levels considered to be low or deficient, according to Health Minister Chris Fearne.

Responding to a parliamentary question by MP Etienne Grech, who is a doctor, the minister said that 19,452 tests were carried out with 11,186 falling below the recommended level of 30ng/ml.

Of these, 37 per cent had levels considered to be insufficient (20-30 ng/ml), and 20 per cent were deficient (<20ng/ml).

The minister said that these percentages were in line with tose of other European countries, especially those in the south of Europe.

It is a common misconception that people in sunny cimates would not have to worry about their Vitamin D levels as this is produced by the body when it is exposed to the ultraviolet B radiation found in sunlight. Research has shown, however, that this is rarely enough. A report of the global edidemiology of Vitamin D in the Journal of Aging Research and Clinical Practice, looked at various studies carried out around the world.

One of the earliest reviews, the Euronut-Seneca study, compared the vitamin D status of 824 elderly people living in 11 European countries. It found that 47 per cent of women and 36 per cent of men had levels nelow the recommended, which were decreasing with age. Vitamin D concentrations were higher in the Northern European and Scandinavian countries compared to Southern Europe.

“This strong correlation between latitude and serum vitamin D was unexpected because ultraviolet irradiation is higher in southern Europe,” it said.

The report also stressed that vitamin D deficiency was particularly common in the institutionalised elderly, and among children.

“Low Vitamin D levels can lead to osteoporosis or weakening of bones leading to easier fractures,” Dr Grech stressed to the Times of Malta.