But the ability of the skin to produce vitamin D from sun-as well as the risk of skin cancer-varies depending on skin color, she added. Parents can help their children get enough vitamin D by making sure they spend at least 15 to 20 minutes in the sun without sunscreen, Melamed said. If vitamin D deficiency does turn out to increase heart disease risk, as the cholesterol and blood pressure figures suggest, “this could have long-term consequences for the health of Americans,” Melamed said. The researchers also found that kids with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to have high blood pressure, low calcium levels (important for bone growth), and low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol than children with adequate amounts of the vitamin.

Non-Hispanic black children and Mexican-Americans also were more likely than whites to be deficient in vitamin D. Nine percent were classified as “deficient” in vitamin D, meaning the concentration of the nutrient in their blood was below 15 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), while 61% were vitamin D “insufficient,” with levels between 15 and 29 ng/mL.ĭeficiency was more common in older children, girls, obese individuals, those who drank milk less than once a week and those who spent more than four hours a day in front of a TV, computer or video screen. To get a sense of how common the problem is nationwide, they looked at data on 6,275 children and young adults one to 21 years old from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey. And giving children a multivitamin containing 400 international units (IUs) of vitamin D is a good idea too, she added, especially in the winter months.Ī few small studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency may be widespread among US children, Melamed and her team note in their report. Melamed of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, told Reuters Health. While the new findings shouldn’t spur parents to start mega-dosing their kids with the vitamin, most children could benefit from a little more sunshine, Dr.

The sun sets under smoky skies as girls play in the sand at the Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, California November 17, 2008.

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