No-one disputes the importance of calcium in a child's diet. We link it with those essential 'healthy bones', but vitamin D can help the body make the most of the calcium its taking in.
Why is vitamin D important?
Vitamin D helps build healthy bones and teeth, aiding the body's use of its mineral intake. Without enough vitamin D a child can be at risk of rickets (rare in the UK these days). Rickets is a condition where the bones are too soft, and can become deformed, or be more prone to breaking.
Increasingly, scientists find that vitamin D can be a valuable tool in protecting against cancer.
How to get vitamin D into a baby or child's diet
Many breakfast cereals and foods like margarine are fortified with vitamin D, but it is also found in oily fish, yoghurt and eggs.
In babies and toddlers, only a small amount (about 7mcg) is needed, and excess can cause problems for vital organs. However, in a normal, varied diet there is little danger of overdoing it.
Vitamin D and sunlight
The body itself can create vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight (this is D3).
Although we discourage parents from allowing their children to be exposed to the sun, regular normal exposure every day through the year (not in sunburning conditions) will be enough, and once a child is of school age, studies suggest there is not need to consciously include vitamin D in a diet.
