Hours of playing video games and drinking sodas instead of milk may be putting children's bones at risk from low vitamin D levels. A new study shows more than half of otherwise healthy children have low vitamin D levels in their blood, which may put them at risk for bone diseases, like rickets. Vitamin D-fortified milk is the main source of vitamin D in the diet, but the vitamin is also produced within the body as a result of sunlight exposure.
That's why researchers say those low vitamin D levels may reflect current trends of children spending less time outdoors and drinking less milk than in the past. Severely low levels of vitamin D can lead to muscle weakness, bone weakness, and rickets. Earlier studies, cited by the researchers, show that vitamin D also plays an important role in immune system function.
Vitamin D and Kids In the study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , researchers analyzed blood levels of vitamin D in 382 healthy children from ages 6 to 21. They found 55 percent of the children had lower than recommended vitamin D levels. African-American children, children over age 9, and those who didn't get much vitamin D in their diet were the most likely to have low levels of the vitamin in their blood.
Overall, 68 percent of children had inadequate stores of the vitamin in their blood during the colder months when they spent more time indoors. "Vitamin D deficiency remains an under-recognized problem overall, and is not well studied in children," says researcher Babette Zemel, PhD, a nutritional anthropologist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, in a news release. Zemel says more study is needed to determine appropriate blood levels of vitamin D in children, and a review of current recommendations for vitamin D intake may be needed.
Reviewed by Louise Chang Hours of playing video games and drinking sodas instead of milk may be putting children's bones at risk from low vitamin D levels.
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