Vitamin deficiency linked to child mental disorders

A new study shows that children with psychosis and other severe mental health disorders also have twice as much vitamin D deficiency as children who are mentally healthy. The study, presented to the American Psychiatric Association 2011 Annual Meeting showed that 21 percent of children with symptoms of severe psychiatric problems had vitamin D levels below what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. That is 50 percent more than children in a normal population, so based on our findings this means that 1 out of 5 kids with severe mental illness has low vitamin D levels. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (43 percent) was most common in children with psychotic disorders compared to other mental health disorders.