Our bodies make vitamin D when direct sunshine hits our skin, especially around midday. While too little vitamin D cannot be blamed for making children sick, the studies suggest that if children don’t have enough vitamin D when they get sick, they are sicker and stay sick longer.
New studies at Harvard University 1 and in Canada 2 also found that very sick hospitalized children often had too little vitamin D in their blood. While rickets is still considered a rare disease, doctors in the US are seeing more and more infants and children with the disease. Weakened bones in infants and young children can result in bowed legs, soft skulls, and delays in crawling and walking. Signs of weakened bones are subtle, so damage may occur long before any problem is noticed. Too little vitamin D can cause rickets, a softening and weakening of the bones. It also has a role in preventing cancer and autoimmune diseases (conditions in which the body is tricked into thinking your cells are not your own so it attacks them). Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus to build strong bones. Although formula is fortified with vitamin D, enough may not be consumed each day to get the total recommended dose of 400 units. Infants who drink less than a liter of formula also may need a lower dose of a vitamin D supplement. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a daily dose of 400 units of vitamin D for infants. Breast milk has only 25 units of vitamin D per liter (that’s roughly a quart or about 32 ounces).
Infants who are breastfed or partially breastfed should receive a daily supplement of vitamin D starting in the first few days of life.
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