Pediatricians double vitamin D recommendations

[Celebration]

Source: Reuters

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The American Academy of Pediatrics has doubled its recommendation for a daily dose of vitamin D in children in the hopes of preventing rickets and reaping other health benefits, the group said on Monday.

"We are doubling the recommended amount of vitamin D children need each day because evidence has shown this could have life-long health benefits," said Dr. Frank Greer, of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which released the new guideline recommendations at a meeting in Boston.

"Supplementation is important because most children will not get enough vitamin D through diet alone," Greer said in a statement.

The new guidelines from the nation's leading group of pediatricians now call for children to receive 400 international units of vitamin D per day, beginning in the first few days of life.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE49C5SR20081013

[ElsewheresDaughter]

1. it says that breast fed babies are at higher risk ....

The group suggests non-breast-fed infants and older children who are drinking less than one quart (liter) of vitamin D-fortified formula or milk daily should receive a vitamin D supplement.

Adequate vitamin D throughout childhood may reduce the risk of osteoporosis later in life. In adults, new evidence suggests that vitamin D plays a role in the immune system and may help prevent infections, autoimmune diseases, cancer and diabetes.

I make the kids play outdoors all day weather permitting..that helps

[WriteDown]

2. You have it backwards :) n/t

[ElsewheresDaughter]

19. NO I do NOT...read these statements from the article here......

Children who do not get enough vitamin D are at risk for rickets, a bone-softening disease that result in stunted growth and skeletal deformities if not corrected while the child is young. Babies who are exclusively breast-fed are at particular risk.

"Breast-feeding is the best source of nutrition for infants. However, because of vitamin D deficiencies in the maternal diet, which affect the vitamin D in a mother's milk, it is important that breast-fed infants receive supplements of vitamin D," Dr. Carol Wagner of the physician's group, who helped write the report, said in a statement.[/b/

[ElboRuum]

3. Tell the kids to give the XBox 360 a rest and go outside.

Vitamin D is produced by the body naturally when exposed to sunlight.

[Eurobabe]

4. That's more likely the culprit

kids not playing outdoors like we used to. Cutbacks in recess, etc.

I think too many supplements are dangerous, let's give the kids KIDNEYS STONES with Vitamin D from China. Brilliant! :eyes:

[Mabus]

17. Which is really great if you aren't allergic to sunlight

I have actinic prurigo an form of hereditary polymorphous light eruption. I'm American Indian and we're more prone to it than other ethnic groups. My actinic prurigo started manifesting itself when I was about 12. I have a younger sister and other relatives who also have AP but to varying degrees.

Unlike like my sister, and most other people with AP, mine borders more on solar urticaria because it is pretty severe and isn't just my exposed skin that breaks out in red, itchy, burning hives. Every year I have to "harden off" my limbs by wearing different types of long-sleeved shirts and pants. I have to start off with dark, long-sleeved shirts and pants and then gradually move to lighter and thinner long-sleeved shirts and pants. Most years I'm lucky and can eventually wear t-shirts and shorts outside. If I don't do this ritual every year I end up with red bumps that make my skin hot to the touch and itch like crazy. Some years it is worse than others and there have been years when my skin wouldn't harden until August or September.

Here's some information PMLE, actinic prurigo and solar urticaria

Polymorphous light eruption (PMLE) PMLE, which usually appears as an itchy rash on sun-exposed skin, is the second most common sun-related skin problem seen by doctors, after common sunburn. It occurs in an estimated 10% to 15% of the U.S. population, affecting people of all races and ethnic backgrounds. Women are affected by PMLE more often than men, and symptoms typically begin during young adult life. In temperate climates, PMLE is usually rare in the winter, but common during the spring and summer months. In many cases, the PMLE rash returns every spring, immediately after the person begins spending more time outside. As spring turns into summer, repeated sun exposure may cause the person to become less sensitive to sunlight, and the PMLE rash either may disappear totally or gradually become less severe. Although the effects of this desensitization process, called "hardening," usually last through the end of the summer, the PMLE rash often returns at full intensity the following spring.


Actinic prurigo (hereditary PMLE) This inherited form of PMLE occurs in people of American Indian background, including the American Indian populations of North, South and Central America. Its symptoms are usually more intense than those of classic PMLE, and they often begin earlier, during childhood or adolescence. Several generations of the same family may have a history of the problem.

****

Solar urticaria This form of sun allergy produces hives (large, itchy, red bumps) on sun-exposed skin. It is a rare condition that most often affects young women.

http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9339/10710.html

And, fwiw, this article says it is the second most skin-related problem seen by doctors but I wasn't diagnosed until a few years ago. I did some research on the internet and then took it to my doctor. He read the materials and then he did some photo-sensitivity tests. As soon as he told me I was on the phone to my relatives to tell them what they had. We'd all been suffering for years and never knew why.

[AllyCat]

5. Wonder who funded this study? Formula companies??

They always say I need to give my baby Vit D or he'll get rickets. So are they telling me that we evolved over thousands of years (if you are not a fundie) without enough Vitamin D???

Stupid. We go outside. We have no cable. The pre-schooler gets 30 minutes of TV a day. The rest of the time we are out the door and doing something. Oh yeah, they also say he's only 40th percentile for weight...guess I shouldn't let him exercise anymore?

Idiots.

[LeftishBrit]

7. Rickets was a serious problem in the past, at least in Britain

Undernutrition and lack of sunlight are important causes - British kids of our grandparents' generation did spend a lot of time outdoors, but for many of them, this was in dark city slums.

[bertman]

10. It was very difficult for sunlight to filter through the "pea soup fogs" of coal dust and smoke.

[hedgehog]

8. Here's my take on getting Vitamin D from sunlight: we know that the ozone layer which

absorbs ultraviolet light has been damaged by chemicals. We know that the atmosphere has been changed by the addition of Carbon Dioxide so that the amount of heat reflected back into space has changed. It makes sense to me that in very recent times, the light spectrum that comes through the atmosphere to reach us may contain more harmful rays than our bodies can handle and fewer of the healthy rays we need.

There are a lot of studies out now correlating low vitamin D levels with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), prostate cancer and multiple sclerosis. Populations living in higher latitudes have higher rates of these diseases. In other words, the difference between the amount of vitamin D generated by exposure to sunshine say in Florida and New York is enough to cause a measurable increase in some illnesses. That would suggest to me that we are very sensitive to both sunshine levels and Vitamin D levels.

Purely anecdotal evidence: My husband works outside a lot and has a "farmer's tan" tanned neck, face and lower arms. He developed prostate cancer at a relatively young age and his serum Vitamin D is so low his doctor has him on supplements.

[Shallah Kali]

15. Yes we evolved (or were created) without enough vit. D which is why cod liver oil was so important

Unless you lived in a warm climate year around and in a culture that allowed people to expose enough skin you risked your kids growing up with malformed legs if you didn't give them cod liver oil. Both my parents had it forced on them and one was from the northeast and the other down south and I doubt there was a cod liver oil lobby back then pushing doctors to prescribe it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Humans evolved for thousands of years in tropical areas, where

lack of sunlight isn't a problem.

In the far northern regions, people learned by trial and error that they were better off if their diets included foods naturally rich in Vitamin D, especially livers of fish and sea mammals. In northern Europe, it was common to dose children with cod liver oil during the dark winter months.

[noiretextatique]

6. my herbalist suggested i get my vitamin d levels checked

after i was diagnosed with breast cancer. from my last bloodwork, my vitamin d level was 14...it should be 40-50. i take 1000mg of d3 each day.

[BlueIris]

9. Vitamin D is HUGH!!&!! CALL CONGRESS. RIGHT F-ING NOW!!! (Ahem. I get my RDA of Vitamin D.) nt

[mackerel]

11. What a bunch of b.s.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Breast feed, eat a well rounded diet and go outside and you'll be fine. Get those kids off corn syrup!

[NickB79]

12. Good. Most Americans in the northern half of the US can't get enough sun in winter

Turning off the TV and going outside helps, but isn't enough when it's December and overcast in Minnesota.

[Shallah Kali]

14. Fall and spring ain't no picnic in Maine either. Exposed face and hands does not =enough vit. D

Which is why in the goode olde dayes everyone made their kids take cod liver oil. My Mom still makes a face if someone mentions cod liver oil :P

if it is a choice between being cold and taking a tablet or even oil of the cod's liver I would choose supplements any day.

shallah, human ice cube

[JoFerret]

13. Sunshine

Restore outside recess for all children

[NutmegYankee]

16. I have to take supplements in winter.

There is not enough sunlight north of 40 N to produce Vitamin D in winter, and even then, I go to work in the dark, and go home in the dark.

[TalkingDog]

18. Get some sun. It's good for you. (3 out of 4 scientists agree...okay, I made that part up)

World Health Organization information states, "Two hours is the required minimum weekly amount of sunlight for infants if only the face is exposed, or 30 minutes if the upper and lower extremities are exposed." This guideline is from a study of exclusively breastfed Caucasian infants under six months old at latitude 39°N (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA). Darker skinned infants may require a longer time outside (three to six times the sunlight exposure) to generate the same amount of vitamin D .

It is not necessary to get sun exposure every single day, as the body stores vitamin D for future use. Per , "Studies have shown that children can store enough vitamin D to avoid deficiency for several months when they are exposed to only a few hours of summer sunlight."
Sunlight exposure needed to achieve adequate vitamin D status*

The amount of UV-B is not a constant. It is a major variable and is influenced by a number of factors:

* Latitude -- the further north you are the less UV-B there is
* Time of Year -- virtually none available in winter in continental U.S.
* Clouds -- can block UV-B
* Pollution -- smog and ozone can block UV-B
* Altitude -- the higher up you are, the more UV-B reaches you
* Person’s age – elderly have substantially less efficiency at producing vitamin D
* Skin pigmentation – darker skin takes longer to acquire UVB to produce vitamin D


Major Caution: Avoid Sunburn

Scientist agree benefit outweigh risks:
http://www.pnas.org/content/105/2/668.abstract
-------------------

Studies have shown that children can store enough vitamin D to avoid deficiency for several months when they are exposed to only a few hours of summer sunlight.6 32-33 Exclusively breastfed Caucasian infants under six months of age (39° N; Cincinnati, Ohio, US) are expected to achieve adequate vitamin D status when exposed to sunlight for 30 minutes per week (diaper only) or two hours per week (fully clothed without a hat). 33 The sunlight exposure needed by darkly pigmented infants is poorly understood.35 Studies of the influence of skin pigmentation on the cutaneous production of vitamin D in adults have shown conflicting results.36, 37 However, a study by Brazerol and colleagues showed that darkly and lightly pigmented adults were equally capable of producing vitamin D when episodes of UVB exposure occurred periodically over time (i.e., biweekly for six weeks in their study).9

6. M. Holick, "Evolution, Biological Functions, and Recommended Dietary Allowance for Vitamin D," in Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology, and Clinical Applications, M. Holick, ed. (Totawa, NJ: Humana Press, 1999), 1-16.
9. W. Brazerol et al., "Serial Ultraviolet B Exposure and Serum 25 Hydroxyvitamin D Response in Young Adult American Blacks and Whites: No Racial Difference," J Am Coll Nutr 7, no. 2 (1988): 111-118.
32. E. Poskitt et al., "Diet, Sunlight, and 25-Hydroxyvitamin D in Healthy Children and Adults," Br Med J 1 (1979): 221-223.
33. B. Specker et al., "Sunshine Exposure and Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations in Exclusively Breastfed Infants," J Pediatr 107 (1985): 372-376.
36. C. Lo et al., "Indian and Pakistani Immigrants Have the Same Capacity as Caucasians to Produce Vitamin D in Response to Ultraviolet Radiation," Am J Clin Nutr 44 (1986): 683-685.
37. T. Clemens et al., "Increased Skin Pigment Reduces the Capacity of the Skin to Synthesize Vitamin D," Lancet 1 (1982): 74-76.