Posted on 06/05/2008 8:31:32 PM PDT by blam
Low Vitamin D Levels Appear Common In Healthy Children
ScienceDaily (Jun. 6, 2008) — Many healthy infants and toddlers may have low levels of vitamin D, and about one-third of those appear to have some evidence of reduced bone mineral content on X-rays, according to a new report.
Reports of a resurgence of vitamin D deficiency and rickets, the resulting bone-weakening disease, have emerged in several states, according to background information in the article. Vitamin D deficiency also appears to be high in other countries, including Greece, China, Canada and England.
Catherine M. Gordon, M.D., M.Sc., and colleagues at Children's Hospital Boston, studied 380 healthy children ages 8 months to 24 months who visited a primary care center for a physical examination between 2005 and 2007. Parents filled out a questionnaire regarding their nutritional intake and that of their children, and also reported on the use of vitamin D and other supplements, time spent outdoors, socioeconomic status and education level.
Among the 365 children for whom blood samples were available, 12.1 percent (44) had vitamin D deficiency, defined as 20 nanograms per milliliter of blood or less, and 40 percent (146) had levels below the accepted optimal level of 30 nanograms per milliliter. Breastfed infants who did not receive vitamin D and toddlers who drank less milk were at higher risk of deficiency (for each cup of milk toddlers drank per day, blood vitamin D level increased by 2.9 nanograms per milliliter).
Forty children of the 44 with vitamin D deficiency underwent X-rays of the wrist and knee. Thirteen (32.5 percent) had evidence of bone mineral loss, and three (7.5 percent) exhibited changes to their bones suggestive of rickets.
"Only one child had signs of rickets on physical examination," the authors write. "Thus, these infants and toddlers had a sub-clinical deficiency that could make detection of this issue particularly problematic in routine clinical practice, as a child's vitamin D status is not typically evaluated as part of routine care."
The data suggest that infants should receive vitamin D supplements while breastfeeding and raise the question of whether some children, including those with established risk factors for vitamin D deficiency, should receive regular measurements of blood vitamin D levels. "Given the potential benefits of vitamin D on bone and other tissues, and growing data supporting its immunomodulatory and antiproliferative effects, the current findings support recommendations advocating for vitamin D supplementation for all young children," they conclude.
This study was supported by grants from the Allen Foundation Inc. and the McCarthy Family Foundation; a grant from the National Center for Research Resources; and a project of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
Editorial: Additional Information Needed About Risks of Low Vitamin D Levels
"The results of this study suggest that a vitamin D level is not a good screening test for rickets in asymptomatic children; 92.5 percent of those with hypovitaminosis [low levels of] D, as defined by Gordon et al, had no evidence of rickets on radiograph [X-ray]," writes James A. Taylor, M.D., of the University of Washington, Seattle, in an accompanying editorial.
"Future research is needed to determine whether infants and toddlers with vitamin D levels of 20 nanograms per milliliter or lower are at significant short- or long-term risk for other bone disease or different conditions," Dr. Taylor writes. "Pending this research, the recommendations by Gordon et al that all young children should receive vitamin D supplementation and that children with risk factors should have periodic vitamin D levels obtained may be premature."
Adapted from materials provided by JAMA and Archives Journals.
Isn’t the sun a great source of Vitamin D? Parents are so hypersensitive to sunshine - they slather the sunblock on. This doesn’t seem surprising to me.
ScienceDaily (Jun. 5, 2008) — Sun exposure and vitamin D levels may play a strong role in risk of type 1 diabetes in children, according to new findings by researchers at the Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. This association comes on the heels of similar research findings by this same group regarding vitamin D levels and several major cancers.
Findings by this same group regarding vitamin D levels and several major cancers.
In this new study, the researchers found that populations living at or near the equator, where there is abundant sunshine (and ultraviolet B irradiance) have low incidence rates of type 1 diabetes. Conversely, populations at higher latitudes, where available sunlight is scarcer, have higher incidence rates. These findings add new support to the concept of a role of vitamin D in reducing risk of this disease.
Ultraviolet B (UVB) exposure triggers photosynthesis of vitamin D3 in the skin. This form of vitamin D also is available through diet and supplements.
"This is the first study, to our knowledge, to show that higher serum levels of vitamin D are associated with reduced incidence rates of type 1 diabetes worldwide," said Cedric F. Garland, Dr. P.H., professor of Family and Preventive Medicine in the UCSD School of Medicine, and member of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center.
The study is published June 5 in the online version of the scientific journal Diabetologia.
Type 1 diabetes is the second most common chronic disease in children, second only to asthma. Every day, 1.5 million Americans deal with type 1 diabetes and its complications. About 15,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year, where this disease is the main cause of blindness in young and middle-aged adults and is among the top reasons for kidney failure and transplants in youth and midlife.
"This research suggests that childhood type 1 diabetes may be preventable with a modest intake of vitamin D3 (1000 IU/day) for children, ideally with 5 to 10 minutes of sunlight around noontime, when good weather allows," said Garland. "Infants less than a year old should not be given more than 400 IU per day without consulting a doctor. Hats and dark glasses are a good idea to wear when in the sun at any age, and can be used if the child will tolerate them."
The association of UVB irradiance to incidence of type 1 diabetes remained strong even after the researchers accounted for per capita healthcare expenditure. This was an important consideration because regions located near the equator tend to have lower per capita healthcare expenditures, which could result in under-reporting of type 1 diabetes.
The researchers created a graph with a vertical axis for diabetes incidence rates, and a horizontal axis for latitude. The latitudes range from -60 for the southern hemisphere, to zero for the equator, to +70 for the northern hemisphere. They then plotted incidence rates for 51 regions according to latitude. The resulting chart was a parabolic curve that looks like a smile.
In the paper the researchers call for public health action to address widespread vitamin D inadequacy in U.S. children.
"This study presents strong epidemiological evidence to suggest that we may be able to prevent new cases of type 1 diabetes," said Garland. "By preventing this disease, we would prevent its many devastating consequences."
### This is the fifth environmental paper from this research team to show a strong association between vitamin D and various major diseases using global incidence data. The previous four were related to cancer incidence, the first of which illuminated a similar pattern for kidney cancer, published Sept. 15, 2006, in the International Journal of Cancer. The second, on ovarian cancer, was published Oct. 31, 2006, in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The third, on endometrial cancer, was published Sept. 16, 2007, in Preventive Medicine. The fourth, on breast cancer, was published in the May-June 2008 issue of The Breast Journal.
Authors on the diabetes study are Sharif B. Mohr, M.P.H., Cedric F. Garland, Dr. P.H., Frank C. Garland, Ph.D., and Edward D. Gorham, Ph.D. of the UCSD Department of Family and Preventive Medicine and Moores UCSD Cancer Center.
Adapted from materials provided by University of California - San Diego, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
It’s actually the best source of Vitamin D yet we block it out.
Well, I think this has far more to do with television and video games than sunblock. You’re still going to tan with sunblock eventually. You’re still getting UBA and UVB radiation—just less of it.
Vitamin D deficiency is very common in adults, as well. We’ve begun screening for it far more in the medical community (25-OH). People simply are not getting outside enough. And diets are woefully inadequate, particularly in women, who rare, if ever, drink milk (which is fortified with Vitamin D).
On top of that, there is the propensity of soft drinks which drain calcium from the bones and thus use up larger stores of Vitamin D in the process.
Don’t people have any common sense any more? You don’t stay out until you look like a lobster, but you don’t block every single ray either.
Yes, and also, African Americans are at greater risk. And vitamin D is important for nerve function as well. In fact, I have a nerve degeneration problem, and one of the tests run was for vit. D deficiency. And in fact, I was deficient. Of course, I don’t go outside much, don’t each much fortified wheat type foods, and like most adults, I don’t drink much milk. I started supplimenting.
susie
interesting....Maybe I ought to see if Sassy has enough in her system.
If you are blond headed and blue-eyed, you should block it out.
My family has never had problems with vitamin D, but my brother died of skin cancer.
I’d much rather block the sun.
I’m worse! I’m red headed w/ blue eyes.
You got that RIGHT!
Sunblock is for the beach and other places where excessive sun exposure can’t be avoided. Or for individual medical/prescription drug issues.
What good is daily sunblock for youthful, healthy skin at age 70 if the lack of Vitamin D will kill you off long before that.
Also, I suspect kids and adults alike have been consuming energy drinks, juice, and sodas instead of milk. Also, dairy products in general have been demonized for their high fat content, so that doesn’t help for adequate vitamin D or calcium intake.
After hearing a very compelling radio program about Vit D deficiency, about two months ago I began taking 5000iu of Vit D3 per day. I hasn’t killed me and I think maybe I feel better. But that could be psychological. The researcher on the radio program said it could take three to five months.
Must have been all that sun block that was forced on those kids by those Liberal idiots ....
**Well, I think this has far more to do with television and video games than sunblock. You’re still going to tan with sunblock eventually. You’re still getting UBA and UVB radiation—just less of it.**
My husband just found out that his vitamin D is low. Started after he was put on statins and low and behold it turns out that statins make is so that your body can’t synthesize vitamin D.
My husband doesn’t use sunblock and is outside at least 4 hours a day on days that he works and about 12 hours a day on days that he doesn’t go to work.
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2006/12/17/statins_and_vitamin_d_deficiency_another_blow.htm
http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/Vitamin-D.html
The wheat will get you your B's not D, but B's are needed for coating the nerve sheath. That which we consume is alwsays better than supplementation.
One of my sons cracked a bone falling off a swing a few years ago. (OK, actually, he was trying to jump through the swing without touching the ropes.) I wouldn’t be surprised if he is low in Vit D.
He was never a big milk drinker, and now he refuses because he says it makes him sick. He won’t eat cereal with milk anymore, and he doesn’t like cheese anymore, either. Sometimes he will drink chocolate milk and eat yogurt, though. I limit those items because I figure the sugar content probably takes away from their nutritional value. But, if I thought they would help, I’d give him chocolate milk and yogurt everyday.
There are also lactose free milks out there, like Lactaid, and digestive enzymes, too.
Vit D bump. Here it is again.
Thanks, I’ll try giving him the lactose-free milk. I’ve been thinking he’s too young (age 12) to be lactose-intolerant and that he wouldn’t be able to handle chocolate milk if he were. I’ve been thinking he’s just being picky. But maybe he really cannot handle whole milk.
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