Lack of vitamin D is a crisis, says USAToday’s Mary Brophy Marchus.
Giving your children all they need to grow big and strong may not be as simple as a gummy vitamin and three square meals. They still may be susceptible to an epidemic that’s starting to gain the notice of pediatricians and bone doctors across the country: vitamin D deficiency.
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Sunlight, diet — particularly oily fish and enriched milk — and supplements are good sources of vitamin D, Holick says.Vitamin D is different from other vitamins because though the body stores it, it needs ultraviolet B rays from the sun to activate it, says James Dowd, professor of medicine at Michigan State University and author of The Vitamin D Cure.
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Fifteen minutes a day will do the trick, he says. When vitamin D is dispatched to the liver and kidneys, it is changed into forms that body tissues can use. It helps the body absorb and regulate calcium and promotes mineralization of teeth and bones. Current recommendations by the Institute of Medicine suggest 200 IUs of vitamin D a day for children and 400 IUs for adults, but Callahan, who serves on an institute committee that aims to update those guidelines, says she suggests higher levels to many of her patients, at least 800 to 1,000 IUs a day.Overdosing on vitamin D is unlikely if you are obtaining it only from diet, Gordon says. But parents should consult their pediatrician before raiding pharmacy shelves for supplements because of different dosages and types. She also says the doctor might want to run a blood test because vitamin D deficiency is hard to detect.
“There aren’t any obvious early symptoms. It may be silent until it manifests in more serious ways, like rickets — weak bones and teeth — in children,” Gordon says.
READ: http://yahoo.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-16-vitamin-d-main_N.htm
Learn more about vitamin D at Vitamin D and Me.
Here is a chart of sources of vitamin D…
| SOURCES OF VITAMIN D | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Few foods are naturally vitamin D-rich, so fortified dairy and cereal products are often your best bet. The Institute of Medicine suggests 400 International Units, or IUs, a day for adults, but some experts believe 800 IUs or more a day may be beneficial.
Source: National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements |
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