Vitamin D deficiency in children has recently become a common problem as a result of; parents failing to follow their pediatrician’s vitamin D recommendations since birth.
As a result, rickets emerged, adding to parents’ concerns.
Stay tuned to learn more about Vitamin D deficiency, its causes, and treatment; to get rid of this nightmare and watch our children grow up healthy.
What is vitamin D? And why it’s so vital for children?
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, and it’s available in many natural foods and supplements for children and adults.
It is commonly referred to as; the “sunshine vitamin.”
You can fulfill your and your child’s body’s needs for vitamin D only by exposure to the sun, before ten a.m. or after five p.m.
After being exposed to the sun, the body produces vitamin D, which aids in absorbing calcium and phosphate, essential for strong bones and teeth.
It also helps reduce inflammations, boost immunity, and enhance glucose metabolism.
After discussing the importance of vitamin D for children, let us clarify the daily dose required to avoid deficiency.
The daily dose needed of vitamin D differs according to age and health condition.
Here are the body’s permitted daily demands in the absence of a shortage that necessitates a dose increase:
- 400 IU in the first year.
- 600 IU from the first year till the age of seventy.
- 800 IU after seventy.
Reasons for vitamin D deficiency in children:
Various reasons lead to vitamin D deficiency, as follows:
- Malnutrition.
- Insufficient sunlight exposure.
- Liver and kidney diseases.
- Diseases that affect vitamin D absorption: Cystic Fibrosis, Inflammatory bowel disease “IBD” and Celiac disease.
What symptoms can lack of vitamin D cause?
Vitamin d deficiency can cause a shortage of calcium in blood known as “Hypocalcaemia”; results in seizures, rickets, or Osteomalacia.
What are the symptoms of different vitamin deficiencies in children?
Symptoms vary according to the type of vitamin that a child lacks:
- Mouth ulcers, brittle nails, hair loss, fatigue, and Myalgia are caused by; Vitamin B deficiency.
- Gum bleeding and scurvy, a condition of muscle weakness with bruises, is caused by Vitamin C deficiency.
- Vision problems and dry eyes are caused by; Vitamin C deficiency.
- Muscle weakness and vision problems with tremors are caused by; Vitamin C deficiency.
And now, let’s dig deeper to learn more about vitamin D deficiency symptoms:
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency in children
There are obvious symptoms of vitamin D deficiency in children, including:
Psychological symptoms:
Vitamin D deficiency causes sleep disturbance and anxiety.
Physical symptoms:
Including:
- Leg pain can awaken the child and disturb his sleep.
- Bone deformity.
- Delayed walking.
- Myalgia and muscle weakness.
- Tetany.
- Seizures.
Now, here is a new concern.
Which child is more likely to develop vitamin D deficiency?
Some factors increase the risk of developing vitamin D deficiency in children, including:
Conditions affecting vitamin D metabolism:
- Obesity.
- Diabetes.
- Acute malabsorption is associated with Crohn’s disease.
Medications affect vitamin D absorption, including:
- Antibiotics such as Rifampin and Isoniazid, used in Tuberculosis “TB” treatment.
- Antiepilepsy: Phenobarbital, Carbamazepine, or Phenytoin.
- Antifungals: Clotrimazole or Ketoconazole.
- Ati-inflammatory drugs: Corticosteroids.
- Some herbs such as Saint John’s Wort.
Let’s go on to the next phase, diagnosis:
Diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency:
The physician may ask you to do a vitamin D blood test for your child; to check on vitamin D level if symptoms of deficiency appear.
Here are the different levels of vitamin D deficiency in children:
-
Severe deficiency
The 25-hydroxy vitamin D is less than 12.5 nmol/Ll in blood.
-
Moderate deficiency
The 25-hydroxy vitamin D is between 12.5 to 29 nmol/L in blood.
-
Slight deficiency
The 25-hydroxy vitamin D is between 30 to 40 nmol/L in blood.
Treatment of vitamin D deficiency:
The child needs to compensate for vitamin D deficiency if its level is less than 50 nmol/L in blood.
While the treatment of rickets caused by vitamin D deficiency involves taking daily doses of vitamin D for a period ranging from two to three months.
The dose varies according to age:
- Newborns (less than one month): the daily dose is 1000 IU.
- Babies from one month to one year: the daily dose is 1000 to 5000 IU.
- For children above one year: the daily dose is 5000 IU.
What are the sources of vitamin D?
There are many sources where we can get vitamin D with adequate concentrations, including:
- Sunlight; considered the most important source of vitamin D.
- Fish, such as mackerel, salmon, tuna, and sardines.
- Cod liver oil capsules.
- Vitamin D-enriched milk.
- Liver.
- Egg yolk.
- Cheese.
- Mushrooms.
- Chicken breasts.
- Broccoli.
- Carrots and lettuce.
- Almonds.
- Apple and bananas.
- Brown rice and long grain rice.
Tips to avoid vitamin D deficiency in children:
Parents should make sure that their children have different sources of vitamin D to avoid its deficiency.
Here are some tips to avoid vitamin D deficiency in children:
- Be sure to expose to sunlight before ten a.m. or after five p.m.
- Take your recommended daily dose prescribed by your doctor.
- Eat food rich in vitamin D.
- Make a gap between drugs that affect vitamin D absorption.
Is there a relation between vitamin D deficiency and autism?
Vitamin D is considered a neurosteroid hormone that plays a vital role in nerve development.
Therefore, vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy or early childhood affects brain development; it causes some side effects o the nervous system, including autism spectrum disorder.
But so far, there is controversy about the relation between vitamin D deficiency in children and autism.
Finally, prevention is better than cure.
So, we should commit to the daily dose of vitamin D prescribed by the doctor, eat food rich in vitamin D, and expose to sunlight; to avoid vitamin D deficiency.
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