Banishing the Buts around Vitamin D
Vitamin D Awareness Week
20th – 26th October 2014
So why are we so deficient? Spending a lot of time indoors
during the summer months can contribute to low levels, we only have to give a
little thought to how many hours we spend all day in an office, travelling in
the car, socialising indoors, using sun cream of factor 15 or above to realise
how very little natural sunlight we expose ourselves to. All factors which
prevent us naturally producing Vitamin D. Furthermore, as we now head into the winter months, the
angle of the sun is simply not strong enough to ensure sufficient vitamin D
production at the levels required by the body. In fact when the sun is below 45
degrees in the sky, nearly all of the UVB it produces is absorbed by the
atmosphere rather than us!
You may be wondering why Vitamin D is so important? Back in
the 1970s this hormone was found to control absorption of Calcium in the
intestines and the deposition of calcium in our bones. However, since then medical
research has advanced greatly, identifying
Vitamin D as having so many other vital roles within the body and with
more compelling evidence suggesting that a lack of vitamin D can be linked to a
number of diseases prevalent in today’s Western society including arthritis,
some cancers, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and rickets. Further studies
have found moderate evidence of links with other diseases for example asthma,
the common cold, depression, Parkinsons Disease & Stroke.
Over the last decade Vitamin D has definitely been thrown
into the media spotlight as research has emerged highlighting the extent of the
impact of deficiency on health. A number of ‘At risk’ groups have also been
identified in the UK as being especially vulnerable to suffering from vitamin D
deficiency including those over 50, vegetarians, those who are housebound and
those with darker skin. Two particular groups, however, are causing growing
concern to nationally significant health officials - pregnant and nursing women
and children under 5. Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Dame Sally
Davies asked health professionals to recommend Vitamin D supplementation to
these at risk groups after cases of rickets began to re emerge and started to
make the headlines again.
These growing
concerns have initiated a national campaign across the UK to raise awareness of
the importance of Vitamin D for health and this year the campaign focuses on
children – an important ‘at risk’ group, following reports than more than half
(60%) of UK parents are unconcerned about the risk of insufficient vitamin D
levels in their child. This third campaign is led by pioneers Better You who
are urging parents ahead of National Vitamin D awareness week to ‘banish the
buts’ when it comes to protecting their children from the effects of
deficiency.
Leading doctors, businesses and health professionals are
backing this years campaign, which again seeks to challenge how much people
think they know about the vital sunshine vitamin.
These new findings have worried experts, who fear that the
UK’s under 5s maybe missing out on the essential vitamin, due to a lack of
awareness of its benefits and the potential health risks associated with
vitamin D deficiency.
So, Better You are driving the campaign forward with two
strong new messages that dispel common myths about vitamin D for children's health.
“But I give my kids
plenty of calcium”
Banish the buts.... Vitamin D is essential for absorbing
calcium to build strong teeth and bones. It also helps prevent bone disease
like rickets, which are on the rise.
“But my kids are too
young for supplements”
Banish the buts....the Department of Health recommends
vitamin D supplementation from 6 months old, due to the lack of essential
vitamin D in the diet.
National Vitamin D Awareness week, which runs from 20th
– 26th October, is also supported by the Vitamin D Mission, a
pioneering public awareness initiative which aims to eradicate vitamin D
deficiency in the under 5s. Research by the Generation D report, commissioned
by the vitamin D Mission, revealed the average British toddler is only getting
27% of the daily dietary vitamin D they need. A lack of education about the
risks associated with vitamin D deficiency means 20% of parents remain unaware
that under 5s rank among the most at risk of low levels of vitamin D.
Andrew Thomas, founder and managing director of BetterYou
states “A cause for concern is that despite its crucial role in ensuring the
healthy growth and development of children’s bones and teeth, more than three
quarters of parents (77%) are unaware of their childs daily dietary requirement
of vitamin D, with more than a third stating that they have never received information
about their child’s specific needs.”
He goes on to say “we hope that this years campaign helps to
banish the misconceptions about Vitamin D while providing enough information
for everyone, particularly parents, to make informed choices regarding their
child’s vitamin D requirements.”
If you are concerned about your Vitamin D intake or that of
your child, you can pop into your local health store. The easiest way to top up
your levels during the dark, cold winter months is through supplementation. It
is only possible to get 10% of what you need from diet alone which would equate
to drinking 80 glasses of milk a day! Vitamin D is available in capsule form,
drops or by sublingual application where you spray it into the mouth where
absorption is believed to be better.
COMPETITION TIME!
You could be the lucky winner of a BetterYou DLux 3000 and a DLuxJunior by simply answering the question below:
'The Department of health recommends Vitamin D supplementation from what age?'
Please email all answers to info@barehealth.co.uk by November 30th 2014
For more information – please call Bare Health, Congleton on
01260 408413
The information contained within this article is for information purposes only. If you are taking any prescribed medication or undergoing any form of medical treatment always seek the advice of your GP or healthcare professional before embarking on any supplementation programme.
