Not enough sun light

[goosey]

I heard an interesting item on the radio the other day saying that Britains doctors are seeing child patients with a vitamin D deficiency and the return of rickets. The bone disorder was thought to have been erradicated. Parental fear for letting children play outside, along with the last 20 years it being drummed into to us to cover up in the sun, use very high factor, factor 50+ and total sunblocks has meant some children are not getting the vitamin D they need. The vitamin is absorbed by the skin and accounts for 90% of the body's supply.
There we are, we think we are doing the right thing protecting our childrens delicate skin from UV rays and skin cancer only to find we could be causing another problem.

[Drosera]

Vitamin D synthesis uses the energy in the UV light to convert a cholesterol precursor to the next stage in the process and the liver and kidneys finish the job.

It is said that about 20 minutes exposure of the face and hands per day is enough to keep the levels up. The skin conversion is not necessary if a person eats oily fish or fish liver and as vitamin D is a lipid soluble molecule, it can be stored, providing a supply for many months.

One can wonder what living conditions these children have
Vitamin D - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[goosey]

Originally Posted by Drosera

Vitamin D synthesis uses the energy in the UV light to convert a cholesterol precursor to the next stage in the process and the liver and kidneys finish the job.

It is said that about 20 minutes exposure of the face and hands per day is enough to keep the levels up. The skin conversion is not necessary if a person eats oily fish or fish liver and as vitamin D is a lipid soluble molecule, it can be stored, providing a supply for many months.

One can wonder what living conditions these children have
Vitamin D - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

According to an artical I found, margarine and other foods were fortified with vitamin D in WWII, and now health "experts" want to do this again.

In Birmingham they have been "giving extra supplements to pregnant women to try and stem the problem there" since 2008.

But what is astounding is that -
"Health workers are seeing more children than ever with vitamin D deficiency - more than 20 new cases a year in Newcastle alone - which can cause seizures and failure of the bones to grow properly."


Here is the report I found on the net from The Mail on line
it makes an interesting read.
(I have copied and pasted it as often links added don't work after a while or replaced with something not at all related.)


Modern children' s lifestyles are putting them at risk of developing rickets, doctors have warned.
The bone disease, which was the scourge of Victorian Britain, is making a comeback because poor diets and the decline in outdoor play have led to a vitamin D deficiency.
Factors such as more time spent inside playing on computers have reduced the amount of outdoor activity children get compared with previous generations.
In addition, children are not taking cod liver oil - a rich source of the vitamin - in the same amounts as they did 50 years ago.
Two medical specialists called yesterday for the vitamin to be added to milk and other food products - as it was during the Second World War - to ensure children are getting enough.
Professor Simon Pearce and Dr Tim Cheetham, of Newcastle University, called for a change in public health policy in a clinical review in the British Medical Journal.
Prof Pearce, a professor of endocrinology, said: 'Kids tend to stay indoors more these days and play on their computers instead of enjoying the fresh air.
'This means their Vitamin D levels are worse than in previous years. A change in public health policy is required. Health professionals have been slow to deal with this problem, even though we have known about it for a while.'
He added: 'We believe that a more robust approach to statutory food supplementation with vitamin D, for example in milk, is needed in the UK, as this measure has already been introduced successfully in many other countries in similar parts of the world.'
Vitamin D is often called the ' sunshine vitamin' because it is made by the action of sunlight on the skin, which accounts for 90 per cent of the body's supply.
Doctors used ultraviolet lamps as early as 1919 to cure rickets in children, as a medical alternative to direct exposure to sunlight which helps the body to manufacture missing vitamin D.
Children have to be outdoors to get the benefits of UV light as it does not pass through glass.
Many people thought rickets had virtually been eliminated after the war, although children in developing countries still suffer from the bowed legs and fragile bone structure associated with the disorder.
Health workers are seeing more children than ever with vitamin D deficiency - more than 20 new cases a year in Newcastle alone - which can cause seizures and failure of the bones to grow properly.
Since 2008, Birmingham Primary Care Trust have had a programme giving extra supplements to pregnant women to try and stem the problem there.
Half of all adults in the UK have vitamin D deficiency in the winter and spring, with one in six having severe deficiency.
The condition has been linked to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, several cancers, and autoimmune conditions.
• A study published in the British Medical Journal of 520,000 Europeans shows that those with the highest levels of Vitamin D have a 40 per cent lower risk of developing colon cancer compared with those with the lowest levels

[goosey]

Thinking about it.
Actually I don't think this can be a true portaryal of the British.
Possibly though how well people are educated concerning such matters.

I had a converstion last week (I shall set the scene - beautiful warm, very sunny weather, on a bench in the NP talking to a chap about the weather and freckles ) He was having a right laugh at the expense of the Brits (happens all the time, luckily we laugh at ourselves even more and are not easily offended ) and how they are all easily spotted on the Med and other holiday locations as they are the burned ones !

So maybe it could be, dare I say, those who just don't care and want a tan to show off when they get back to blighty, and don't cover up and plaster themselves with high factor cream. Will be exposed to plenty of vitamin D at the detriment to the rest of their health.
BUT its the people that do care and cover up who are the vitamin D deficient victims.

My mind is rolling over this. I find it very hard to believe that children especially of school age are not spending 20 mins a day in the open.

[Drosera]

In Sweden rickets is called "The English Disease"

That's OK - because I am Welsh

[Drosera]

THis seems like a balanced article.
BBC - Rickets comeback due to 'lack of sunshine exposure'
but sunlight/vitamin D are not the whole story. Regular exercise to use the system of bone/muscle interaction stimulates bone deposition and builds a strong skeleton up to the Peak Bone Mass we achieve in our 20s.