This doesn’t come a shock, I have written before on the use of sunscreens and how we need to get our 20 minutes a day of unfiltered, pure sunlight to ensure we have healthy levels of vitamin D in our bodies. The report suggests that children get more sunshine, instead of rushing out to buy supplements and I couldn’t agree more; our kids need to get outside, get active and get sunshine.
Unfortunately the article does go into the “sun scaring” that I find so annoying and just adds to the skin cancer hype and leads into shielding our children from the big, evil sun, thus leading to these deficiencies. I really wish there were more articles (other than my own) that taught sun smarts that didn’t generally freak the entire parenting population out and have them slathering toxic chemicals onto their children’s skin as the first sign of a sunny day.
And vitamin D supplements must be used cautiously as well, she added. “Taking too much can lead to kidney stones and other kidney problems,” Melamed said. “Taking more than 400 IU a day, which is the current recommendation, may not be safe.”
But it’s OK to take 400 IU a day, the amount commonly contained in multivitamins, and especially important to do so in the wintertime, when people get less sun and vitamin D levels drop, she added. In Melamed’s study, just 1 in 25 of the study participants had taken 400 IU of vitamin D daily for the past month.
So once again. basically the sun is our best bet of getting Vitamin D, in the most natural way possible. Our bodies know how to process it, how to repair damaged cells, how to make the best use of it. And our kids aren’t getting enough of it!
Luckily, there is now a user friendly 'blood spot' test available from GrassrootsHealth.net for $40 (click on the D-Action button). No invasive venous blood draw, just push the lancet and it pricks the finger; then let some drops of blood fall into circles on the blotter paper and send it in. It hurts no more than plucking an eyebrow hair. With my daughter's permission, we just tested my 2-year-old granddaughter, who came in at 33 ng/mL (OK, but we want to boost that to 50 ng/mL, optimum for protection from flu).
As a teacher, I am concerned at the negligence of public health officials regarding the national D deficiency. Growing children need D and all the recent research says food won't provide enough.
Parents no longer insist their kids swallow that 'lovin' spoonful' of cod liver oil each morning. They need to know there is a less tortuous way to insure their kids get enough: D3 from lanolin has no fishy taste and is usually a powder that can be mixed into a dab of apple sauce. Schools should notify parents of the D deficiency epidemic and explain how to get a test and how to provide supplements.
(Of course, cod liver oil provides omega-3s as well, which school food also neglects, but that's a separate issue which can be resolved by chewable supplements or sardines—which are low on the food chain and therefore better than tuna regarding mercury residue.)
Please visit GoodSchoolFood.org for more info on D and omega-3s!
Luckily, there is now a user friendly 'blood spot' test available from GrassrootsHealth.net for $40 (click on the D-Action button). No invasive venous blood draw, just push the lancet and it pricks the finger; then let some drops of blood fall into circles on the blotter paper and send it in. It hurts no more than plucking an eyebrow hair. With my daughter's permission, we just tested my 2-year-old granddaughter, who came in at 33 ng/mL (OK, but we want to boost that to 50 ng/mL, optimum for protection from flu).
As a teacher, I am concerned at the negligence of public health officials regarding the national D deficiency. Growing children need D and all the recent research says food won't provide enough.
Parents no longer insist their kids swallow that 'lovin' spoonful' of cod liver oil each morning. They need to know there is a less tortuous way to insure their kids get enough: D3 from lanolin has no fishy taste and is usually a powder that can be mixed into a dab of apple sauce. Schools should notify parents of the D deficiency epidemic and explain how to get a test and how to provide supplements.
(Of course, cod liver oil provides omega-3s as well, which school food also neglects, but that's a separate issue which can be resolved by chewable supplements or sardines—which are low on the food chain and therefore better than tuna regarding mercury residue.)
Please visit GoodSchoolFood.org for more info on D and omega-3s!