Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Vitamin D: Half of all children are deficient

More than half of all infants and toddlers are low in their levels of vitamin D. In a study of 380 healthy infants and toddlers, researchers discovered that 12 per cent were deficient in vitamin D and a further 40 per cent had levels that were below those needed to maintain and grow healthy bones. The researchers found that a third of the children tested were already showing signs of skeletal problems.

(Source: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2008; 162: 538-43).

1 comment:

Willow said...

I think this may be connected to childhood obesity. There is so much ill-advised advice about lowering fat intake by eating less dairy produce so children are missing out on the calcium and vitamin D present in milk and yogurt.

Also now that people are being conditioned to avoid being out in the sun in case they get skin cancer they are not having the benefit of vitamin D absorbed into the skin via sun-bathing or other exposure to the sunshine vitamin.