Kids Need More Vitamin D

The American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement this week that your kids may need to double their intake of vitamin D. Vitamin D has made waves in the health care community over the past few years. In the old days, people thought that vitamin D deficiency was rare since it is made in the skin in response to sunlight. But mounting evidence over the past few years suggests that deficiency may play a significant role in: heart disease, cancers, autoimmune disorders, depression, chronic pain, type 1 diabetes, muscle & bone problems.

The AAP now recommends a dose of 400IU per day with supplementation beginning shortly after birth and continuing through adolescence. The 2003 recommendation stood at 200IU per day.

Here's some food for thought. A study published in July 2008 issue of The Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism suggests that adolescents may actually need 2000IU per day to establish healthy serum levels of vitamin D. This is 5 times the current, updated recommendation!

The October 2008 issue of Current Diabetes Reports has a study that recommends children and adults get 1000IU of vitamin D when sunlight is not readily available. Note that this is also higher than the updated AAP recommendations.

While most regions of the United States receive sufficient sunlight to make vitamin D during the warmer months, Dr. Joan Lappe, a vitamin D researcher, states that areas north of 37 degrees latitude do not get adequate sun exposure to make vitamin D from October through March.

That means that if you live north of a line drawn straight across the U.S. from San Jose, CA, through Springfield, MO, and into Newport News, Virginia, you will not make vitamin D from fall through winter. More accurately, you could make vitamin D if you sat out in the sun a very long time, but in the time it would take to make enough vitamin D, you would get badly burned.

Your best bet:
Have your vitamin D levels measured. This should be the 25(OH)D (aka 25 hydroxyvitamin D or calcidiol). Then supplement with D3 (cholecalciferol) and recheck your levels in a few months. If it is winter time, you'll most likely need to supplement.