Of Hijabs, Burqas, And Rickets

Muslimatoon on Fleet Street in London

As mentioned back in 2007:

Hijab and burka-wearing Muslim women are putting their health at risk because they do not get enough sunlight, doctors have warned.

An alarming number of Muslim women who wear headdresses such as the hijab, which covers the head, neck and shoulders, and the burka, which covers everything except the eyes, are suffering from bone deficiencies due to lack of vitamin D.

Most of the body’s vitamin D, which helps calcium absorption and prevents the bone disorder rickets, is obtained through sunlight acting on the skin. Only a very small amount comes from food.

Women with darker skin are most at risk because it takes their bodies longer to produce the vitamin.

The NHS wants to encourage women from communities that embrace the hijab, such as those from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Somalia, to increase their vitamin D intake.

A Department for Health spokesman said: ‘For ethnic groups there is an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Studies have shown low levels in Asian women in the United Kingdom – particularly among those who cover most of their skin for cultural reasons.’...

Now in 2013:

LONDON (AP) -- Rickets, the childhood disease that once caused an epidemic of bowed legs and curved spines during the Victorian era, is making a shocking comeback in 21st-century Britain....

No mention this time of hijabs and burkas. Mustn't ever insult Muslims, you know.