Country-wide studies have reported vitamin D deficiency in as high as 70-100% of ostensibly healthy individuals. There is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in healthy children, adolescents, young adults and those ≥50 years old. All over India, vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in pregnant women and lactating mothers. Subjects from rural and urban areas presented a similar picture. Twin deficiency of vitamin D and calcium in India is worrisome.

There is a need for adequate nutrition, sun exposure and physical exercise from the very beginning of one’s life to attain peak bone mass, and later to maintain it. Indubitably, vitamin D status in India is grim and needs to be reckoned with.