Give vitiman D to babies til 1 year old? (not enough sunshine in Ire)

Khannie

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2005/07/29/rickets-Inuit050729.html

Milk in the US and Canada is fortified with vitamin d too. Slightly wary of this except at very low levels. There was a public health disaster in Scotland in the 60s where foods were over fortified.

cynder

mohawk wrote: »

A baby under 6 months should never be exposed to direct sunlight! You aren't supposed to put suncream on them at that age.

.

I was told to leave my premature newborn in sunlight to help get rid of his Jaundice. Either to put him in front of the window or take him outside. I was told this on day 2 by the phn and had to do it until he was 6 weeks old, he was born in July 2005, so plenty of sunshine. Of course you shouldn't do it to a baby with the sun blazing, a bit of common sense, a bit of shde but also enough sun light. But i did use suncream on his exposed areas, no harm done he is a fine and healthy 5 year old.

ng1

Carawaystick wrote: »

What's the incidence of Rickets like among inuit or sami people?

The traditional Inuit and Sami diet is very rich in Vitamin D as Vitamin D is present in the oils and livers of cold-water fish.

Nevyn

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-11741262

12 November 2010 Last updated at 17:42 GMT

Increase in rickets in Southampton astonishes doctors

More than 20% of children tested for bone problems in Southampton showed signs of the crippling disease rickets, a health trust has revealed.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Prof Nicholas Clarke checked more than 200 of the city's children for bone problems caused by a lack of vitamin D.

He was astonished by the results, which, he said, were "very reminiscent of 17th Century England".

The disease can lead to deformities like bowed legs as well stunted growth.

Prof Clarke, based at Southampton General Hospital, said vitamin D supplements should be more widely adopted to halt the rise in cases.

The Department of Health said it would review the evidence.
'Middle class and leafy'

A lack of vitamin D can be caused by poor diets and insufficient exposure to sunlight, which helps the body synthesise the vitamin.

"A lot of the children we have seen have got low vitamin D and require treatment," he said.

"In my 22 years at Southampton General Hospital, this is a completely new occurrence in the south that has evolved over the last 12 to 24 months and we are seeing cases across the board, from areas of deprivation up to the middle classes.
Prof Nicholas Clarke Prof Clarke said vitamin D supplements should be more widely adopted to halt the rise in cases

"There is a real need to get national attention focused on the dangers this presents."

He added that the "modern lifestyle, which involves a lack of exposure to sunlight, but also covering up in sunshine" had contributed to the problem.

"The return of rickets in northern parts of the UK came as a surprise, despite the colder climate and lower levels of sunshine in the north, but what has developed in Southampton is quite astonishing," said Prof Clarke.

"We are facing the daunting prospect of an area like Southampton, where it is high income, middle class and leafy in its surroundings, seeing increasing numbers of children with rickets, which would have been inconceivable only a year or so ago."

Since the 1940s, it has been mandatory for all margarines, sold for domestic use in the UK, to be fortified with Vitamin D.

A Department of Health spokesman said the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition was due to review the evidence on Vitamin D, including options to improve its intake.

"The Government will consider the recommendations by the committee carefully," he said.

hunnymonster

I actually gave a lecture to primary schools kids on just this topic as part of science week last week. I was talking about bone health and how calcium and vit D relate to this. I have to say the kids were pretty clued in and knew what they should be eating and doing which is great. However, I did an exercise with them where I got them to analyse their diet from the previous 24 hours. About 25% of the 200 or so kids were not getting anything like enough Calcium and vitamin D in their diet.


OT: not related to vit D but the other really surprising finding I had was that the kids believed that adding sea salt to any food rather than table salt made it healthy. I didn't quite get to the bottom of it but I think they were getting sea salt and something like lo-salt confused.

Nevyn

Lack of iodine in sea salt compared to table salt.