(NaturalNews) Primary Care Trust (PCT) -- England's national health service -- is giving free vitamin D supplements to young children in Bradford to help cure rickets.
A study conducted by Shirley Brierley, a special registrar with PCT, found that more than 300 Bradford children were vitamin D deficient, which has led to a recent rise in cases of rickets. "We are still seeing children with rickets and low calcium levels due to a lack of vitamin D," Brierley said. "We should not be seeing any children with it at all."
PCT pediatricians found that the rates of vitamin D deficiency were higher in South Asian girls as well as Muslim women, whose dress code prevents their skin from being exposed and absorbing sunlight, which naturally produces the nutrient.
After Brierley's study was released, the Bradford City Teaching PCT released 500,000 pounds the (nearly $1 million U.S.) to give every child younger than two a vitamin D boost. The PCT has also issued leaflets and informational DVDs to encourage everyone -- not just kids -- to get more vitamin D.
PCT senior health promotion specialist Sarah Lockyer said the vitamin D booster program for kids was only "short-term help for very young children, who are a priority." It also urged adults to increase their exposure to sunlight and eat a healthy, vitamin-D rich diet, in addition to becoming educated on the importance of vitamin D for themselves and their children.
###
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Email this article to a friend
Share this article on: 
Now Available from 
