Vitamin D Deficiency In Children

Posted by Barbara Pytel Jul 25, 2008

Children's Hospital in Boston performed research on 380 children ages 8 months to 2 years. How many were found to be deficient in vitamin D? 40% of children failed to have an adequate level of the very important vitamin.

What is necessary for prevention?

• drinking fortified milk
• taking vitamins
• keep weight at a normal level

Only three children in the study showed signs of rickets, bowed legs. Children with the deficiency were more likely to appear tired, shaky or suffer from seizures.

Canadian research recently discovered that breast cancer patients with lower levels of vitamin D were more likely to have the cancer spread or even die.

Sunshine is a factor because vitamin D is produced by the body when sunlight hits the skin. Children should be outside often and avoid drinking soda instead of vitamin D fortified milk.

Source: Andrew Stern, Yahoo! News, June 2, 2008