Lack of sunlight exposure causing rickets epidemic among children

Thursday, February 24, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: rickets, sunlight exposure, health news

(NaturalNews) Vitamin D deficiency has become a widespread problem, as false media and government reports over the years have scared the public into thinking that the sun will kill them and that they have to lather up in sunscreen and wear several layers of clothing just to stay healthy. But all this hiding from the sun has not only caused an epidemic in poor health, but it has also resurrected the condition known as rickets, where poorly-developed bones become soft and weak, leading to pain, deformities, and other problems, particularly among children.

Rickets had all but disappeared from the modern age, that is until the sun-scare campaigns drove everyone indoors or behind a coating of chemical-laden cream. And unless people shed the coverings and start to adapt their bodies to natural sunlight, or begin to supplement more with natural vitamin D, then the problem is only going to get progressively worse.

Dr. Joseph M. Reed, a children's orthopedist at Southampton General Hospital in the U.K., has seen a massive resurgence of rickets in children, including those from sunny coastal towns and those from middle- and upper-income families -- an unusual demographic in which to see the condition.

Vitamin D is absolutely essential for the proper formation of strong, healthy bones in children. This necessary co-factor processes calcium and phosphorus, which are together used by the body to build healthy bones. And since few foods contain significant enough quantities of natural vitamin D to provide much benefit, ultraviolet rays from natural sunlight are the best way to obtain it.

The fact that rickets is once again on the rise shows that vitamin D levels among the population are drastically lower than they should be, even by mainstream standards. The minimal government recommendations for vitamin D, which are far too low to offer any real protection from a host of other chronic diseases, will at least prevent rickets. But since people are not even getting these minimal amounts of the vitamin, it is clear that society has a real problem on its hands unless things begin to change.

To learn more about vitamin D and the role it plays in vibrant health, visit:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org

Sources for this story include:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12357382