Questionnaire:
The questionnaire was designed by the authors after reviewing many studies about Vitamin D deficiency. 10-13 The questions were modified to meet the aims of study and validated by: a general pediatrician, and pediatric consultant, pediatric and newborn specialist. The final version of the questionnaire was translated to Arabic language and distributed online as Google form through WhatsApp and Facebook groups.
The questionnaire consisted of interface and three sections: demographics, vitamin D related knowledge and practices, vitamin D related perception. The interface explains the aim of the study and confirming the confidentiality of information.
Demographic data include general information such as age, nationality, residency place, work status, level of education, age group of children.
The section of vitamin D related knowledge and practices included six questions about sources, benefits, risk factors and complications of deficiency, relation with skin color and breast milk which were answered by “Yes”, “No”, or “I don’t know”, and ten multiple choice questions about practices undertaken by mother regarding vitamin D intake during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and toward their babies/children. The last section included six questions regarding mother’s perceptions toward vitamin D which were answered using five level Likert item scale (strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree).