Most people know that direct sunshine hitting our skin produces vitamin D. Research now indicates that vitamin D is vitally important, in many ways, for a child's health.
When we are outside and have exposure to direct sunlight on our skin vitamin D is produced. For many years we didn't know the wide-ranging benefits of vitamin D. It was found that vitamin D is important for the strength of our bones. Children deficient in vitamin D developed a condition called Rickets. Vitamin D helps calcium be absorbed and deposited into bones. This makes the bones stronger. If children did not have enough vitamin D their bones were a weak and this condition was named Rickets. As a result milk was fortified with vitamin D and Rickets was virtually eliminated in the United States.
However, in recent years we have found that the health benefits of vitamin D are very wide ranging, especially for children. This article will describe some recent research outlining health benefits of vitamin D.
Vitamin D is produced in the body as a result of exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays of the sun.
Scientific Reports, June 2019 showed an analysis of data concerning over 422,000 mother-child pairs in Scotland and revealed that kids born to women with lower levels of exposure to UVB rays during pregnancy were more likely to have a learning disability later in life. Lead author Dr. Jill Pell notes, "Learning disabilities can have profound lifelong effects on both the affected child and their family. The importance of our study is that it suggests a possible way to prevent learning disabilities in some children." We can see that it is important for women to have adequate levels of vitamin D through their pregnancy.
When we are outside and have exposure to direct sunlight on our skin vitamin D is produced. For many years we didn't know the wide-ranging benefits of vitamin D. It was found that vitamin D is important for the strength of our bones. Children deficient in vitamin D developed a condition called Rickets. Vitamin D helps calcium be absorbed and deposited into bones. This makes the bones stronger. If children did not have enough vitamin D their bones were a weak and this condition was named Rickets. As a result milk was fortified with vitamin D and Rickets was virtually eliminated in the United States.
However, in recent years we have found that the health benefits of vitamin D are very wide ranging, especially for children. This article will describe some recent research outlining health benefits of vitamin D.
Vitamin D is produced in the body as a result of exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays of the sun.
Scientific Reports, June 2019 showed an analysis of data concerning over 422,000 mother-child pairs in Scotland and revealed that kids born to women with lower levels of exposure to UVB rays during pregnancy were more likely to have a learning disability later in life. Lead author Dr. Jill Pell notes, "Learning disabilities can have profound lifelong effects on both the affected child and their family. The importance of our study is that it suggests a possible way to prevent learning disabilities in some children." We can see that it is important for women to have adequate levels of vitamin D through their pregnancy.