Vitamin D doubled - hurrah!!

[Guest guest]

The nation's leading pediatricians group says children from newborns to

teens should get double the usually recommended amount of vitamin D because

of evidence that it may help prevent serious diseases.

To meet the new recommendation of 400 units daily, millions of children will

need to take daily vitamin D supplements, the American Academy of Pediatrics

said. That includes breast-fed infants — even those who get some formula,

too, and many teens who drink little or no milk.

Baby formula contains vitamin D, so infants on formula only generally don't

need supplements. However, the academy recommends breast-feeding for at

least the first year of life and breast milk is sometimes deficient.

Most commercially available milk is fortified with vitamin D, but most

children and teens don't drink enough of it — four cups daily would be

needed — to meet the new requirement, said Dr. Greer, the report's

co-author.

The new advice is based on mounting research about potential benefits from

vitamin D besides keeping bones strong, including suggestions that it might

reduce risks for cancer, diabetes and heart disease. But the evidence isn't

conclusive and there's no consensus on how much of the vitamin would be

needed for disease prevention.

The new advice replaces a 2003 academy recommendation for 200 units daily.

That's the amount the government recommends for children and adults up to

age 50; 400 units is recommended for adults aged 51 to 70 and 600 units for

those aged 71 and up. Vitamin D is sold in drops for young children,

capsules and tablets.

The Institute of Medicine, a government advisory group that sets dietary

standards, is discussing with federal agencies whether those recommendations

should be changed based on emerging research, said spokeswoman

Stencel.

The recommendations were prepared for release Monday at an academy

conference in Boston. They are to be published in the November issue of the

academy's journal, Pediatrics.

Besides milk and some other fortified foods like cereal, vitamin D is found

in oily fish including tuna, mackerel and sardines.

But it's hard to get enough through diet; the best source is sunlight

because the body makes vitamin D when sunshine hits the skin.

While it is believed that 10 to 15 minutes in the sun without sunscreen a

few times weekly is sufficient for many, people with dark skin and those in

northern, less sunny climates need more. Because of sunlight's link with

skin cancer, " vitamin D supplements during infancy, childhood and

adolescence are necessary, " the academy's report says.

Recent studies have shown that many children don't get enough vitamin D, and

cases of rickets, a bone disorder often associated with malnourishment in

the 1800s, continue to occur.

Greer, a University of Wisconsin pediatrician, acknowledged that most

studies suggesting vitamin D may play a much broader role in disease

prevention have been observational, not the most rigorous kind of medical

evidence.

Nonetheless, many doctors consider the research compelling and many have

begun to offer patients routine vitamin D testing.

Gombart, a vitamin D researcher at Oregon State University, said the

new recommendations are safe and conservative but that 400 units " is

probably not enough. "

Gombart's lab work in human tissue has shown that vitamin D helps increase

levels of a protein that kills bacteria. He said many experts believe that

between 800 and 1,000 units daily would be more effective at helping fight

disease.

Several members of an academy committee that helped write the guidelines

have current or former ties to makers of infant formula or vitamin

supplements.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-health/20081013/MED.Vitamin.D.Kids/

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Ortiz, RD

Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork. ~English Proverb

A diet is the penalty we pay for exceeding the feed limit.

More die in the United States of too much food than of too little.

If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution.