The Department of Health is encouraging pregnant and breastfeeding women to boost their intake of vitamin D in the darker winter months. Healthcare professionals say more children than ever are presenting with vitamin D deficiency which can cause seizures and rickets.
Whilst vitamin D deficiency is common among the white population, many cases of rickets in the UK are seen in Asian, Afro-Caribbean and Middle Eastern children, with some research suggesting incidence of the disease could be as high as 1 in 100 children in ethnic minority groups. Dark-skinned people do not absorb as much sunlight through the skin and may also wear clothing that limits exposure to the sun for cultural reasons.
While the actual prevalence of rickets is hard to define, more and more healthcare professionals are diagnosing cases of vitamin D deficiency. There is seasonal variation in vitamin D status: it is lowest during winter, when we rely on body stores and dietary intake to maintain adequate levels. In winter months at latitudes of 52 degrees north (above Birmingham), there is no ultraviolet light of the appropriate wavelength for the body to make vitamin D in the skin.
Beneficiaries of the Healthy Start scheme can obtain free Healthy Start Vitamins for Women and Healthy Start Children’s Vitamin Drops.
Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: “The Healthy Start scheme is designed to improve the health of some of our most vulnerable families. We encourage people who are eligible to take advantage of the free vitamins, to minimise the risk of developing vitamin D deficiency and other conditions."
