Vitamin Rich Diet

Vitamins and minerals are as necessary for our health as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. If you take only vitamins and minerals, but no fats, carbohydrates, and proteins; it means you are not taking healthy diet. Vice-versa is also true. But, do you know that our children’s growth is mostly dependent upon these vitamins and minerals. Among them vitamin D is important for the growth of bones, and it is present in only a few kinds of food. So, for the sake of your child, you should be well informed about vitamin D.

Vitamin D: Function in Body
Vitamin D is mainly of two types; ergocalciferol (vitamin D2), which is made by plants, and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), which is made by the human body when the skin is exposed to UVB rays from the sun. To be healthy, both adults and children need these two kinds of vitamin D.
So, what is the functionality of vitamin D in our body? According to Dr. Daniel J. Raiten, PhD, at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, vitamin D (D2 and D3) assist the absorption of calcium and phosphorus that we eat from our diet into the bloodstream. Calcium and phosphorus aids in building and maintaining strong bones in our body.
Children with a vitamin D deficiency can develop rickets, a disease that causes deformities in the skeleton.

Vitamin D: Dietary Sources   

Sockeye Salmon, rich source of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is found in a number of foods including fatty fish, like salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines, and fortified milk, cereal, and juices. Smaller amounts are also found in eggs, beef, and cheese.
Another good source of vitamin D is exposure to sunlight, between 10 and 20 minutes a day on bare skin. On the contrary, ultra violet rays are also present in the sunlight to cause cancer (your body does not make vitamin D if you’re wearing sunscreen). The color of a child’s skin, the amount of cloud cover, and the geographic latitude are also responsible to decrease the amount of vitamin D which a child will make from the sun, so it is an unreliable way to get vitamin D, especially in the winter and in northern areas.

Vitamin D: Recommended Amount
The American Academy of Pediatrics has recently recommended daily intake of 400 IU for both infants and children, and that is the current official recommendation for children from 1 to 18 years old.

image courtesy: http://www.discovervitality.com, http://planetgreen.discovery.com