Vitamin D

You may know that vitamin D is important for you, but do you also know that you can get vitamin D from the sun? Read on to discover more about this sunshine vitamin and learn how you can get the vitamin D your body needs to stay healthy.

What is vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that helps your body absorb and use calcium. Calcium is a mineral that gives strength to your bones and teeth, and helps your nerves and muscles function properly. Vitamin D also helps your immune system function effectively, and reduces inflammation.

Why is vitamin D important?

The teenage years are the most important for bone growth and development. Without enough vitamin D, your body may not be able to use the calcium it needs, and rickets, osteomalacia, or osteoperosis can develop. This is why it is important to get plenty of vitamin D if you are a pre-teen or teenager.

Rickets, which means “soft bones”, is a condition that can affect young children who do not get enough vitamin D. Osteomalacia is the softening of the bones in teens and adults who do not get enough vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency can also cause osteopenia (low bone mass), and lead to osteoperosis later in life. Osteoporosis is the development of weak bones that, over time, can break easily. Although osteoporosis generally affects older people, young women whose periods have stopped (for reasons such as eating disorders and low body weight), or use of steroids for certain chronic diseases, can also lead to osteoporosis.

How much vitamin D do I need?

It is recommended that children and adolescents get at least 600 IU (international units), of vitamin D each day.

Where can I get vitamin D?

Believe it or not, you can get vitamin D from sunshine! The sun’s rays cause a chemical change to happen in your skin. This helps change the form of vitamin D in your skin to a type of vitamin D that your body can use. When you are outside in the sun for about 10-15 minutes, you are able to get enough vitamin D. But be sure to remember to put on sunscreen after those few minutes, so that you don’t get a sunburn (which can increase your skin cancer risk).

Depending on where you live, the sun may not be strong enough to help your body make vitamin D during the winter months, so you must get it from food or supplements. The best food sources of vitamin D are fortified dairy products. Fish rich in natural oils such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel are also high in vitamin D. Although it’s great to get vitamins and minerals from food, taking a multivitamin is another way to get the right amount. If you do choose to take a supplement, check the bottle and make sure one tablet provides at least or 600 IU (international units).

Can I get too much vitamin D?

You can’t get too much vitamin D from the sun or from eating foods that are high in vitamin D. However, taking too much of a vitamin D supplement can be harmful. Research has shown that the maximum amount of vitamin D a teen should get is 4000 IU, and the minimum is or 600 IU.

Below is a table of some healthy foods that contain vitamin D:

Is vitamin D deficiency a concern for adolescents?

Yes. A recent study done at Children’s Hospital Boston has shown that 1 in 5 teenage boys and 1 in 4 teenage girls don’t get enough vitamin D.

Am I at risk for Vitamin D deficiency?

If you are African American or Hispanic you could be at a higher risk for low vitamin D than if you are white. This is because skin that has a dark pigment can prevent most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation from reaching the deeper layers of your skin where vitamin D is made.

If you live in a place that gets very little sunshine, especially during the winter months, it’s harder to get enough vitamin D. To figure out if you live in one of these places, look at a map of the United States and imagine a line running between San Francisco and Philadelphia. If you live North of this imaginary line, it is necessary for you (during the winter) to get your daily intake of vitamin D through food or supplements.

Being active outside on a sunny day, drinking milk, and drinking or eating nutritious foods fortified with vitamin D such as fortified orange juice will give you enough of this important vitamin to keep your body fit and strong.

Written by the CYWH Staff at Children's Hospital Boston

Updated: 12/15/2010

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