The American Academy of Pediatrics, which recently updated its vitamin D guidelines, now recommends that infants, children, and teens should take 400 IU per day in supplement form. However, only 4 percent of the study population actually used supplements. In the study, children who took vitamin D supplements (400 IU/day) were less likely to be deficient in the vitamin. "But it's very hard to get enough vitamin D from dietary sources alone," she said. Melamed recommends that children should consume more foods rich in vitamin D, such as milk and fish.
#Vitamin d video girls skin#
The body uses UV-B sunlight to convert a form of cholesterol in the skin into vitamin D. "The widespread use of sunscreens, which block UV-B rays, has only compounded the problem." "Kids have more sedentary lifestyles today and are not spending as much time outdoors," Melamed said. The decline in vitamin D levels in the United States was reported widely a year ago and has been underway for 20 years, Melamed said. So darker-skinned people produce less when exposed to sunlight.
Lighter skin is more efficient at producing vitamin D.
The deficiency was more common among the older children in the data set, too. Low levels were especially common in girls, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, the obese, those who drank milk less than once a week, and those who spent more than four hours a day watching TV, playing videogames, or using computers. The researchers found that 9 percent, or 7.6 million children across the country, were vitamin D deficient and another 61 percent, or 50.8 million, were vitamin D insufficient. The researchers analyzed data on more than 6,000 children, ages 1 to 21, collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2004. Here's what else you need to know about the so-called "sunshine vitamin.The cause? Poor diet and lack of sunshine, the researchers conclude today in the online version of the journal Pediatrics.
“Actually the body can produce enough vitamin D with as little as 10 minutes of unprotected sun exposure per day.” In fact, according to a 2017 study out of the University of Surrey, vitamin D3 is twice as effective as D2 in raising the level of the vitamin in the body. “D3 is the only vitamin that can be synthesized by the body through direct sunlight on the skin,” says Roth. While both forms of the vitamin need to go through a conversion in the body in order to be absorbed, D3 does that much more efficiently. But what makes vitamin D3 stand out from the rest? We talked to Justine Roth, R.D., certified dietician nutritionist, about what makes the sunshine vitamin glow.Īlthough five types of vitamin D exist, the body primarily uses plant-based vitamin D2 (also called ergocalciferol) and vitmamin D3 (cholecalciferol), which is found in animal products, Roth says. But just because you’re preparing to say goodbye to the sunshine for a few short months doesn’t mean that you should be bidding adieu to the “sunshine vitamin” known as vitamin D-or, if we’re getting specific, vitamin D3.Īs if having what seems like a vitamin for every letter of the alphabet wasn’t confusing enough, there are actually five different forms of vitamin D, which is important for bone production, curbing fatigue, and, according to a new study by Queen Mary University of London, reducing the severity of asthma.
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