by Katerina Nikolas

Created on: December 16, 2011   Last Updated: December 20, 2011

An alarming resurgence of the centuries old scourge of rickets, poses an increasing health risk in Western countries that had eradicated the disease through preventative measures. Cases of rickets are increasing in Britain and North America, with lack of exposure to sunlight considered a primary cause.

Sunshine stimulates the body to produce vitamin D which in turn promotes healthy bone development. Children diagnosed with rickets are at risk of skeletal abnormalities. According to

NCBI “Vitamin D deficiency has again become an epidemic in children, and rickets has become a global health issue.”

The fortification of certain foods such as milk, margarine, and infant formulas, with vitamin D, helped to eradicate rickets in the West. However, the disease remained prevalent in countries such as Saudi Arabia where the traditional habit of covering the female body in the niqab prevented pregnant women from receiving adequate exposure to sunlight, thus exposing their infants to vitamin D deficiency.

In Britain childhood cases of rickets have increased five fold since 1997, according to the Daily Mail. Children spend less time playing outdoors thus reducing their exposure to sunlight. Additionally Gillian Killiner, of the British Dietetic Association, draws attention to increased awareness of the risks of skin cancer as a contributory factor. She said “We have taken it for granted that skin cancer is the big one and overlooked the Vitamin D side. Children are covered up with sunblock, t-shirts and hats.”

Children that deliberately avoid the sun or use high levels of sun screen are becoming vitamin D deficient. In areas with low levels of sunlight during the winter the children may not build up enough of the vitamin during the summer months to protect their bones during winter. Researchers in the U.S. also observed that African-American and Hispanic children had lower levels of vitamin D.

According to Secularism UK “The wearing of burkas by Muslim women is thought to have contributed to its recent resurgence” due to their lack of exposure to sunlight. Infant vitamin D deficiency is then exacerbated through breast feeding by women, as the infant is not receiving vitamin D that is added to infant milk formulas.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that a vitamin D supplement is given before the age of two months “in those infants whose mothers are vi­tamin D deficient or in those infants not ex­posed to adequate sunlight.”

Healthy diets and adequate exposure to sunlight eradicated diseases in the West, such as rickets and scurvy, which were once associated with deprivation. It is now necessary to once again educate populations on the necessary measures to keep such diseases at bay.

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