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New study suggests more vitamin D testing for kids

Updated: 2009-08-03 20:04:28 CST Category: Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment

by Laurent Castellucci

For some children, there may be too many distractions in the home that are keeping them from running outside in then natural sunlight.

Aside from exercise, being outside is one of the best ways for a
uman body to absorb vitamin D and new research has indicated that the majority of U.S. children may be deficient in the necessary vitamin.

A study led by researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University found that 7 out of 10 children had low levels of vitamin D. According to the researchers, this placed the children at a higher risk of developing bone and heart disease, as well as high blood pressure.

Data collected from 6,000 children aged 1 to 21 from a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was used in the research. It was found that 9 percent, equivalent to 7.6 million children, were vitamin D deficient.

"We expected the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency would be high, but the magnitude of the problem nationwide was shocking," lead author Dr Juhi Kumar, a fellow in pediatrics at Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center, said.

Vitamin D testing is available to parents who are interested in ensuring their child has healthy levels of the nutrient.

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