Pregnant women are being encouraged to take vitamin D pills to prevent rickets affecting their babies.
The Government wants women to consider taking the supplement if they are expecting or breastfeeding. Health workers are seeing an increase in children with vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to seizures and make the bones fail to grow properly. The changing lifestyle of UK children with many spending long periods indoors may be contributing to a resurgence in rickets which was thought to have been eradicated here after the War.
Vitamin D is often called the "sunshine vitamin" because it is made by the action of sunlight on the skin, which accounts for 90 per cent of the body's supply. In northern European countries sun exposure levels are relatively low, mothers are less likely to put their babies outdoors in prams and girls tend to grow up with a vitamin D deficiency that persists into their pregnancies. Pregnant and breastfeeding women and children-under four may benefit from a daily supplement containing 10micrograms of vitamin D, according to the Department of Health.
Some studies suggest as many as one in 100 children from ethnic minorities suffer from the deficiency. Dark-skinned people do not absorb as much sunlight through the skin and may also wear clothing for cultural reasons that prevents exposure to the sun.
Women should contact their GP for a blood test if they think they may be lacking the vitamin, says the health department.
Rosie Dodds of the National Childbirth Trust said women were not aware of how important vitamin D was to the health of their children. She said: "Our lifestyles today mean there are fewer opportunities to make vitamin D through the skin, especially during a British winter. Babies are less likely to be exposed to sun in their prams and children spend longer indoors than ever before. However, there is evidence that vitamin D helps the immune system and allergies, and influences cancer development in later life."
In the summer months, 15 minutes exposure to sunlight per day of the arms, head and shoulders is enough for the body to make enough vitamin D for good health. In the winter months, foods such as oily fish, eggs, fortified cereals and bread can provide enough of the vitamin alongside the body's own stores, says the health department.
December 2007
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