D-ficient much? Sunlight Everywhere But Not A Drop In Our Bones Ashee Srivastava, AIS MV, Alumna It’s one of India’s strangest ironies: a country drenched in sunlight, yet starved of the sunshine vitamin. Sitting between 8°4 and 37°6 north of the equator, India perches on the tropical belt with sunlight almost all year round. On average, we get over 300 sunny days annually - sufficient to keep an entire nation glowing with Vitamin D. And yet, nearly 8 out of 10 Indians face its deficiency. Diagnosis Prescription Prognosis
Vampires might be cool, but Vitamin D deficiency isn’t. We hide indoors... behind tinted windows, under ACs, in rooms lit by LED lights. Even Twilight’s Edward Cullen was more sun-exposed than us. So, why is India, the land of heatwaves and Surya Namaskars, running low on the very vitamin the sun hands out for free? Let’s find out…
Clinical findings
Often, the facts are a bitter pill to swallow: Studies show that 76% of Indians don’t get enough Vitamin D. Children, teenagers, pregnant women, and the elderly are especially at risk. Ironically, the young are hit the hardest: 84% of those under 25 are deficient, followed closely by 81% in the 25-40 age group.
And, if you thought living in a concrete jungle keeps you shielded from the worldly woes, think again! Urban residents show far higher deficiency than rural folks, who still spend hours under the open sun. And this isn’t just India’s problem. While Latin America and Australia manage decent Vitamin D levels, much of the Middle East and Asia wrestles the same story: plenty of light, little exposure.
Vitamin D deficiency fuels more than weak bones. It causes conditions like rickets and osteomalacia, and bleeds into daily routine too - aches, cramps, fatigue, hair loss, mood swings, and constant infections. All signs your body is missing the multitasking vitamin that keeps your bones strong, immunity sharp, inflammation low, and mood steady.
Picture this: a man in Mayur Vihar’s high-rise leaves for work with an umbrella, shielding him not from rain, but sunlight. His wife waves him goodbye while smearing fairness cream, a 5000 crore INR industry built around fear of tanning. Their children drink milk, not for strength, but because of the old belief that it makes skin fair. In Finland, the same milk is fortified with Vitamin D because the sun is scarce. Here, sun blankets the land, yet we bar it. And when we don’t, pollution does it for us. Smog and dust scatter and block the UV rays our skin requires for Vitamin D. In cities like Delhi, winter haze can dim the sun so much it’s like living under a permanent filter. Add to it melanin-rich skin that naturally slows Vitamin D production, long indoor hours, tinted windows, and diets low in Vitamin D - and you get a nation bathed in sunlight, yet living in its own grey shadow.
The answer to this malady isn’t in a chemist’s bottle. Supplements can help, but they’re not the real deal. It’s about being a little less like the man with his umbrella, and a little more like a blooming, sunlight-seeking sunflower. Step out of the cool light of screens and into the warm glow of the sun - just 15-20 minutes a day makes a difference. Tweak the lifestyle: fewer tinted windows, more open air, and a little less stigma around tanning.
And when the sun truly isn’t an option, there are other natural ways to fill the gap, i.e. nutrition. The average Indian vegetarian diet gives only about 2.4 mcg a day - barely a quarter of what’s essential. That’s where innovation steps in: UV-treated mushrooms, fortified foods, and yes, when all else fails, supplements.
Sunlight is a common prescription. Plants need it to grow, animals need plants, and we need both. Even our epics remind us of this truth. In the Ramayana, Sage Agastya teaches a tired Lord Rama the hymn, Aditya Hridaya Stotra, to worship the sun and gain strength before facing Ravana. If a god can turn to the sun for power, why can’t we?
So, make the sun your spotlight - step into it, fifteen minutes a day. If you need a soundtrack, play The Beatles - Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun. And I say, “It’s all right...”
