Therapist Unlimited Blog

A recent medical research has shown that millions of children in the United States are suffering from low vitamin D.
According to the data gathered by Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University seven out of 10 American children have low levels of vitamin D, raising their risk of bone and heart disease.
The researchers said discovery is an indication that vitamin D deficiency could place millions of children at risk for high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease.
Study leader Michal L. Melamed, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and of epidemiology & population health at Einstein revealed several small studies had found a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in specific populations, but no one had examined this issue nationwide.
To get the significant data, the researchers analyzed data on more than 6,000 children, ages one to 21, collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001-2004.
Based on that data, they found that nine percent of the study sample, equivalent to 7.6 million children across the U.S., was vitamin D deficient (defined as less than 15 ng/mL of blood), while another 61 percent, or 50.8 million, was vitamin D insufficient (15 to 29 ng/mL).

Millions of children in the US are suffering from low vitamin D.

They also found out that low vitamin D levels were especially common in children who were older, female, African-American, Mexican-American, obese, drank milk less than once a week, or spent more than four hours a day watching TV, playing videogames, or using computers.
The researchers also discovered that low levels of vitamin D deficiency were associated with poor bone health, higher systolic blood pressure, and lower calcium levels and HDL (good) cholesterol levels, which are key risk factors for heart disease.
To resolve this medical dilemma, the researchers recommended that pediatricians should routinely screen high-risk children for vitamin D deficiency, and that parents should ensure that their kids get adequate amounts of the vitamin through a combination of diet, supplements, and exposure to sunlight.
Moreover, Melamed advices parents to turn off the TV and send their kids outside.
Melamed said it would just take 15 to 20 minutes a day should be enough.
He said unless they burn easily, don’t put sunscreen on them until they’ve been out in the sun for 10 minutes, so they get the good stuff but not sun damage.