This week I have been hearing lots about the increase in the daily recommended amount of vitamin D for babies, children, and teens. I first wrote over at Non-Toxic Kids about a few choices of natural mutivitamins for kids, spurred by an appointment with my healthcare provider.
She gave me an article about how vitamin D is important for developing bodies, and that scientists have underestimated its ability to prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease and to help children develop a strong bone structure.
I went out that day and bought vitamin D supplements myself, and some natural multi-vitamins for my girls. I breastfed both without giving them any vitamin supplements, and I wish I had known about vitamin D’s importance when my girls were infants.
Then in a matter of days, vitamin D is all over the news. The New York Times reported the doubling of the recommended intake from 200 units to 400 units, as did Time magazine and MSN. To meet this requirement, parents need to give their kids a supplement and take note of the amount of vitamin D in it. When I was selecting a multi-vitamin for my girls, I noticed several natural versions did not have enough vitamin D to help them meet this new daily requirement. So make sure to read the label before you decide.
Of course, the best way to get vitamin D is to get it from the sun. Living here in the Northeast, even though we are very active outdoors, we simply don’t get enough. Not with two very fair girls who burn easily, anyway (lots of sunscreen required) and many, many cloudy, snowy, stormy days. For ways to bring more sunshine and vitamin D into your child’s (and your!) day, read this post. Reenita also gives us encouragement to use the “old school” method for getting vitamin D in this post.
Here are some guidelines for how much sun is needed, but with a caution about too much sun and skin cancer (from MSNBC):
“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.”
However you do it, just be sure to recognize this long overlooked vitamin that can do great things.
Image: Pexels / Pixabay
This really did just explode in the news didn’t it!? We wrote about in our blog today too. It’s kind of hard coming up with ways to increase Vitamin-D intake, besides just taking supplements. I liked how one of the posts you suggested reading gave examples of things you normally do inside that you can try doing outside.
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We spent lots and lots of time outside every day. That said, we want to make sure our bodies get enough of much needed nutrients.
Since Vitamin D is a fat soluable vitamin, we don’t want to over do it either! Cereals and milk are often fortified with 25-50% of the RDA for Vit D. So a serving of a whole grain, low sugar cereal (keep in mind that many organic cereals are not vitamin fortified) and a couple servings of an organic, low fat milk could easily meet your daily needs without added supplementation.
For those who are vegan or like my children, cannot have dairy… Rice Dream has 25% RDA per serving and Pearl Soymilk has 35%.
If you still need some added Vitamin D, the best food source is fish liver oils or salmon with skin on it.
When all else fails… the kids get Gummy Vits Calcium + D supplements.
I have been giving my daughter 400 mls of Vitamin D since she was 3 months old. My mother thinks I’m insane and others have said it’s too much, why waste it? At about $10 a month, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, and now it turns out she needed it all along. Here here for mother’s intuition! I think from now on I’m just going to follow my instinct.
I have been giving my daughter 500 units per reccomendation of our Natural pathic doctor. I wish I had given her a suppliment when I was exclusivly breastfeeding her, but I didn’t know then. sigh.