New study says children need 10 times more D
Children may have intake of vitamin D at a dose that is ten times higher than the current recommended daily allowance (RDA) safely to improve the bone health of children and other health attributes according to a new study, the web site www.foodconsumer.org reported on Tuesday.
“The current RDA for vitamin D is 200 International Units (IUs) for children as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. According to The Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends the same RDA,” the web site reported. “The new study published in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) suggests that this 200 IU level may not be adequate for bone growth and musculoskeletal health in children and adolescents.”
The story quoted the new study’s lead author, Ghada El-Haff Fuleihan, M.D., of the American University of Beirut-Medical Center, Lebanon as saying, “Our research reveals that vitamin D, at doses equivalent to 2,000 IUs a day, is not only safe for adolescents, but it is actually necessary for achieving desirable vitamin D levels.”
Without mega-dose supplements, it would be impossible to attain those vitamin D levels without regular sun exposure. That’s because sun is the only natural and reliable vitamin D source.
- An 8-ounce glass of vitamin D fortified whole milk has 100 international units of vitamin D.
- Fresh salmon may have 600 IU of vitamin D.
- In comparison, one full-body tan in a non-burning fashion can generate 10,000 IU to 25,000 IU of vitamin D, which the body stores in fatty tissue.
“This is one more reason it is clear that humans are intended to get regular UV exposure, and that the indoor tanning community continues to provide a responsible surrogate for sun exposure,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said. “Every day it becomes more evident that teaching regular sun exposure in a non-burning fashion is the most intelligent course of action.”
According to the study, children who received the equivalent of 2,000 IUs a day of vitamin D increased 25-OHD in their blood to the mid-thirties (ng/ml). And yet that result is still substantially shy of the Vitamin D Council’s recommendations for vitamin D blood levels, around 50 ng/ml.
