Vitamin D deficiency in children

About 70% of US children have low vitamin D levels, which puts them at risk for bone and cardiovascular disease, the researchers said.

Dr. Juhi Kumar of the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center said: 'We have predicted that vitamin D deficiency is a common thing, but the seriousness of the problem across the country actually causes shocks. '.

Cases of rickets and bone diseases in young children due to low vitamin D levels are also increasing rapidly.

The new finding, from a nationwide study, adds evidence that children and a large part of adults are lacking this vitamin.

Dr. Michal L. Melamed, research director at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, said: 'Some small studies have found the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in many young groups, but There has been no research on this issue on a national scale. '

Reason? Poor diets and lack of sunlight, the researchers concluded in Peidatrics magazine.

Millions of children

The researchers analyzed data of more than 6,000 children, aged between 1 and 21, collected by the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2001-2004.

The researchers found that 9%, or 7.6 million children nationwide, vitamin D deficiency, and 61%, or 50.8 million, with insufficient vitamin D intake.

Vitamin D deficiency can lead to rickets in children. (Photo: TopNews)

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is especially high for girls, African-American and Mexican Americans, obese people, those who drink less than once a week, and those who watch TV, play games or use computers count more than 4 hours a day. Vitamin D deficiency is also common in older children.

Light-skinned people often produce vitamin D more effectively than dark-skinned people when exposed to the sun.

The decline in vitamin D levels in the United States has been widely reported 1 year ago, and this process has been going on for 20 years.

Melamed said: 'Today, children often have fewer outdoor activities. The widespread use of sunscreen to block UV-B rays only makes the problem worse. '

The body uses UV-B light to convert a form of cholesterol in the skin into vitamin D.

What to do

Melamed commented that children should eat more foods rich in vitamin D, such as milk and fish. 'However, it is difficult to get enough vitamin D from food sources only,' she said.

Vitamin D supplementation may help solve the problem. In the study, children who took vitamin D supplements (400 IU a day) were less likely to be deficient in this vitamin. However, only about 4% of children in the study actually used vitamin D. supplements.

The American Academy of Children, recently updated with the vitamin D guidelines, recommends that babies, children, and adolescents should take 400 IU of vitamin D a day. This is very important for children who live in the northern area where the sun is too weak. Vitamin D supplementation is also needed for nursing mothers because breastmilk contains relatively little vitamin D.

What should parents do? Melamed said: 'They should turn off the TV and take their children out to play. Only about 15 to 20 minutes a day is enough. And unless they're very easy to catch, don't apply sunscreen until they're out in the sun for 10 minutes. '

Experts also reported that prolonged sun exposure increased the risk of skin cancer.