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Has the widespread use of sunscreen contributed to vitamin D deficiency in children?
Results so far:
| No | 44% | 161 votes | Total: 364 votes | |
| Yes | 56% | 203 votes |
No
by Danelle Karth
Created on: February 15, 2008
Understanding Vitamins and their usage in our bodies isn't always easy. Because of this, it is easy to get confused and even to worry if we are getting enough vitamins in our day to day lives. This concern is magnified when it comes to our children and their health. We want what's best for them and we want to make sure they have what they need to grow healthy, strong, and safe.
But worrying about a vitamin D deficiency isn't something we have to do in developed nations. There are several reasons for this and together they make sure that we get a fair amount of Vitamin D.
Vitamin D is fat soluble.
Vitamin D is fat soluble, meaning a little of it can last in the body for quite awhile. It takes time for it to leave the body and therefore it can be stored and used as needed for longer then a day or two. This means, what you body consumes and makes today can help to make up for not getting enough tomorrow.
Vitamin D is provided in many food sources.
While foods that are naturally high in vitamin d aren't consumed often enough to cover the needs of a child, there are many foods that children often consume that are fortified with Vitamin D. This includes 99% of the U.S. milk supply, many ready to eat cereals, and some cheeses. These fortified foods help increase our intake of Vitamin D. Foods that are sometimes eaten that contain Vitamin D include eggs, many types of fish, and liver (though I haven't met very many kids who where big on liver!). Most children get a significant intake of Vitamin D from the foods they eat.
Sunscreen use, only when in sun for long periods.
The body naturally makes vitamin d in the skin when it is exposed to UV rays. This happens less and less for kids these days because use of sunscreen has become more and more popular. As we understand the effects of the sun on aging skin, skin cancer, and other issues we work hard to protect ourselves and our children from issues.
While sunscreen use has become widespread, it isn't done for all occasions. In fact, it is usually only used when known, long periods, of sun exposure is going to occur. Often parents don't lather their kids up for car rides, quick walks, or for doing normal daily activities. It is during this time that the body can use the sun to make Vitamin D. It takes only 10-15 minutes for the body to absorb enough UV rays to make a days worth of Vitamin D.
We also don't apply sunscreen if we are going to be in the shade or it is cloudy out. However, shade blocks just 60% of UV rays and clouds only 50%. Even on a cloudy day or under a tree you are getting UV rays and the body is busy making Vitamin D.
Improper use of sunscreen.
Improper use of sunscreen also helps guarantee that our children are getting enough UV's to make Vitamin D. If you follow the sunscreen directions you will put it on 15-20 minutes before going out into the sun. Most of us lather up at the beach or the pool, not at home. This means that for 15-20 minutes we are getting unprotected sun exposure. This gives our children plenty of sun, and then the sunscreen protects them from a great deal of exposure.
Many of us also don't lather up enough. We forget to reapply. Our children get busy playing, enjoying the water, or running around and we forget to chase them down and make them put more sunscreen on. This means that after a certain time (usually four hours) the sunscreen isn't working any longer. This is even more true if our children are in and out of the water and rinsing off the sunscreen (even "waterproof" sunscreen has to be reapplied often).
Between the foods we eat and sun we get, even if we are avid sunscreen users, we don't have to fear Vitamin D deficiencies for ourselves or our children. Additionally a multi-vitamin is suggested for all children and this protects them even more. Healthy children with well balanced diets and regular out door times have very little chance of dealing with Vitamin D deficiency in developed countries.
Learn more about this author, Danelle Karth.
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Yes
by Sara Mcgrath
Created on: September 03, 2008
Vitamin D deficiency can more accurately be called sunlight deficiency. In fact, Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin, but a steroid hormone produced in the body after direct exposure of the skin to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation in sunlight.
"Vitamin D" occurs naturally in only a few foods, including liver, egg yolk, and fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, and cod liver oil). Because only these few foods, outside of fortified foods, contain significant levels of the hormone, it is unusual for people of any age to obtain adequate levels through dietary sources alone, and it makes sense that the biologically normal means of obtaining sufficient Vitamin D hormone is through adequate sun exposure.
Risk Factors for Vitamin D Deficiency in Babies and Children
* Mother has a low level of Vitamin D during pregnancy and lactation. A baby's initial store of Vitamin D is provided by the mother's body during gestation. A Vitamin D-deficient breastfeeding mother may produce breast milk with low levels of the hormone. However, the Vitamin D in breast milk is highly bioavailable. Breast milk contains substances that facilitate and enhance the absorption of nutrients.
* Inadequate exposure to sunlight. People who spend little time outdoors, use high-SPF sunscreen, or live in northern latitudes with limited sunlight may have lower levels of Vitamin D.
* Mother and baby have darkly pigmented skin. People with darker skin have more natural protection from solar radiation and, thus, may require more exposure to sunlight for adequate Vitamin D synthesis.
* Mother and baby are exposed to lead, which inhibits Vitamin D synthesis (The FDA recently released a study that found lead in most supplements for women and children [J. Agric. Food Chem. 2008, 56, 6892-6896].)
Sun Exposure for Vitamin D Synthesis
Fear of sun exposure contributes to Vitamin D deficiency in children. In Western cultures, children spend increasingly little time outdoors. When children do go out, it is common to use sunscreen. Babies are typically covered if they go outside at all.
The amount of sun exposure required for adequate Vitamin D synthesis will depend upon how much sunlight an area receives year round and on the darkness of the child's skin.
According to information from the World Health Organization information [Butte 2002, p. 27 PDF], "Two hours is the required minimum weekly amount of sunlight for infants if only the face is exposed, or 30 minutes if the upper and lower extremities are exposed."
This guideline is from a study [Specker 1985] of exclusively breastfed Caucasian infants under six months old at latitude 39N (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA). Darker skinned infants may require three to six times the sunlight exposure to generate the same amount of vitamin D [Good Mojab 2002].
Learn more about this author, Sara Mcgrath.
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