LETTER:Lifting the veil on the vitamin myth

From Dr A. Majid Katme

Sir: In her letter on the hejab (15 June), Julie Hynds suggests that the lack of exposure to the sun of our Muslim women wearing the hejab is causing vitamin D deficiency. This is a common fallacy among the people of the West.

It is a medical fact that diet is the main cause of vitamin D deficiency among some Asians, and not lack of exposure to the sun. We Muslims, who live in the East and Asia, are over-exposed to the sun all the time and our houses, yards and private gardens are full of sunshine. People in Britain and the West are suffering from the loss of the sun most of the time.

Has Ms Hynds anything to say about the large number of women (nuns) who are in hejab and live in those countries that dream all the time about seeing the sun. What about their vitamin D deficiencies?

Yours faithfully,

A. MAJID KATME

London, N13

15 June