This study shows that 20% of kids ages 1-11, the ages when bones form, don’t get enough Vitamin D.

But wait! Many adults are vitamin D deficient also. Broken bones are the end result of that.

For adults, lifestyle changes may mean working through lunch, skipping the walk outside to lunch in the sunshine. That is valuable outdoor time which helps us keep the “sunshine” vitamin levels up.

Kids and adults also are warned about over-exposure to the sun.

Vitamin D needs equal time.

As this item says, in later life a lack of this important vitamin may be linked to high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

U. S. News and World Report/AP

“A new study finds that about 20 percent of U.S. children between ages 1 and 11 aren’t getting enough vitamin D, the Associated Press reports. Researchers looked at vitamin D blood levels in almost 3,000 children recorded between 2001 and 2006. The researchers also applied a higher cutoff for deficiency that showed close to 90 percent of black children and 80 percent of Hispanic children may be vitamin D deficient, according to the AP. Earlier research has suggested a link between vitamin D deficiency in kids and health problems such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol and has also shown that many U.S. teens are lacking enough of the nutrient. Health professionals do not have a single set of guidelines to determine the level at which a child is considered deficient, the AP reports. The latest study appears in the journal Pediatrics.”

Source: U. S. News and World Report/AP, October 26, 2009

Citation: Journal of Pediatrics, October, 2009