AppId is over the quota
24 January 2012 Last updated at 12:19 GMT Concerns over vitamin D deficiency - A quarter of toddlers affectedThe chief medical officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, is to contact medical staff about concerns young children and some adults are not getting enough vitamin D.
Government guidelines recommend some groups, including the under-fives, should take a daily supplement.
However, recent research found that many parents and health professionals were unaware of the advice.
There has been an increase in childhood rickets over the past 15 years.
According to Dr Benjamin Jacobs, from the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, links to heart disease and some cancers are also being investigated.
Continue reading the main storyIt is important to raise awareness of this issue, and I will be contacting health professionals on the need to prescribe and recommend vitamin D supplements to at-risk groups”End Quote Dame Sally Davies Chief medical officer for England The consultant paediatrician told BBC Breakfast that the hospital saw about one severe case a month of rickets - softening of bones through lack of vitamin D in childhood.
He said: "There are many other children who have less severe problems - muscle weakness, delay in walking, bone pains - and research indicates that in many parts of the country the majority of children have a low level of vitamin D."
The Feeding for Life Foundation report, published in October last year, suggested one in four toddlers in the UK is vitamin D deficient.
However, this may be an underestimate as only vitamin D from food was included, and not any vitamin D obtained through sun exposure.
Vitamin D supplements are recommended for all people at risk of a deficiency, including all pregnant and breastfeeding women, children under five years old, people aged over 65, and people at risk of not getting enough exposure to sunlight.
Vitamin D is mainly obtained from sunlight. However, too much sun exposure increases the risk of skin cancer.
According to one recent study, nearly three-quarters of parents and more than half of health professionals are unaware of the recommendations.
The Department of Health has asked the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition to review the issue of current dietary recommendations on vitamin D.
Dame Sally Davies: "We know a significant proportion of people in the UK probably have inadequate levels of vitamin D in their blood. People at risk of vitamin D deficiency, including pregnant women and children under five, are already advised to take daily supplements.
Free supplements"Our experts are clear - low levels of vitamin D can increase the risk of poor bone health, including rickets in young children.
"Many health professionals such as midwives, GPs and nurses give advice on supplements, and it is crucial they continue to offer this advice as part of routine consultations and ensure disadvantaged families have access to free vitamin supplements through our Healthy Start scheme.
"It is important to raise awareness of this issue, and I will be contacting health professionals on the need to prescribe and recommend vitamin D supplements to at-risk groups."
It has long been known that vitamin D prevents rickets and children were once given food supplements like cod liver oil.
However, this practice was stopped in the 1950s because it was thought unnecessary.
In the last 10 years, doctors have been seeing more cases of vitamin D deficiency, leading to a debate over the use of food supplements and concern that many medical staff are unaware of the problem.
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In this Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011 photo illustration, multivitamins are poured from a bottle in Philadelphia. Two studies released in Oct. 2011 raised gnawing worries about the safety of vitamin supplements and a host of questions. Vitamins have long had a "health halo" - many people think they won't hurt and at worst might be unnecessary. The industry calls them an insurance policy against bad eating. But our foods increasingly are pumped full of them - even junk foods and drinks often are fortified with nutrients to give them a healthier profile - so the risk is rising that we're getting too much. Add a supplement and you may exceed the upper limit. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
The nutritional label of a box of multivitamins is photographed in Philadelphia on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. Two studies released in Oct. 2011 raised gnawing worries about the safety of vitamin supplements and a host of questions. Vitamins have long had a "health halo" - many people think they won't hurt and at worst might be unnecessary. The industry calls them an insurance policy against bad eating. But our foods increasingly are pumped full of them - even junk foods and drinks often are fortified with nutrients to give them a healthier profile - so the risk is rising that we're getting too much. Add a supplement and you may exceed the upper limit. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
The nutritional label of a box of multivitamins is photographed in Philadelphia on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. Two studies released in Oct. 2011 raised gnawing worries about the safety of vitamin supplements and a host of questions. Vitamins have long had a "health halo" - many people think they won't hurt and at worst might be unnecessary. The industry calls them an insurance policy against bad eating. But our foods increasingly are pumped full of them - even junk foods and drinks often are fortified with nutrients to give them a healthier profile - so the risk is rising that we're getting too much. Add a supplement and you may exceed the upper limit. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)eval("var currentItemd57851005a80479aaeeb90a12c70b9ff = 1;");eval("var nextd57851005a80479aaeeb90a12c70b9ff = 0;");eval("var previousd57851005a80479aaeeb90a12c70b9ff = 0;"); 
Two studies this week raised gnawing worries about the safety of vitamin supplements and a host of questions. Should anyone be taking them? Which ones are most risky? And if you do take them, how can you pick the safest ones?Vitamins have long had a "health halo." Many people think they're good for you and at worst might simply be unnecessary. The industry calls them an insurance policy against bad eating.But our foods are increasingly pumped full of them already. Even junk foods and drinks often are fortified with nutrients to give them a healthier profile, so the risk is rising that we're getting too much. Add a supplement and you may exceed the upper limit."We're finding out they're not as harmless as the industry might have us believe," said David Schardt, a nutritionist at the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest.This week, a study of nearly 40,000 older women found a slightly higher risk of death among those taking dietary supplements, including multivitamins, folic acid, iron and copper. It was just an observational study, though, not a rigorous test.Another study found that men taking high doses of vitamin E — 400 units a day — for five years had a slightly increased risk of prostate cancer.As many as one-third of Americans take vitamins and nearly half of people 50 and older take multivitamins, surveys suggest. Americans spent $9.6 billion on vitamins last year, up from $7.2 billion in 2005, according to the Nutrition Business Journal. Multivitamins top the list, at nearly $5 billion in sales.Yet there is no clear evidence that multivitamins lower the risk of cancer, heart disease or any other chronic health problems. No government agency recommends them "regardless of the quality of a person's diet," says a fact sheet from the federal Office of Dietary Supplements. And vitamins aren't required to undergo the strict testing required of U.S.-approved prescription medicines.Some fads, such as the antioxidant craze over vitamins A and E and beta-carotene, backfired when studies found more health risk, not less. And studies that find more disease in people with too little of a certain vitamin can be misleading: Correcting a deficiency so you have the right daily amount is different from supplementing beyond recommended levels.The best way to get vitamins is to eat foods that naturally contain them, said Jody Engel, a nutritionist with Office of Dietary Supplements. "Foods provide more than just vitamins and minerals, such as fiber and other ingredients that may have positive health effects."Schardt adds: "It's virtually impossible to overdose on the nutrients in food."Some folks may need more of certain nutrients and should talk with their doctors about supplements:— Postmenopausal women regarding calcium and vitamin D to protect bones.— Women planning on pregnancy regarding folate, or folic acid, to prevent birth defects.— People over age 50 and vegans who may need vitamin B12. "As we get older, a number of us no longer produce enough acid in the stomach to extract the B12 in food," Schardt explained.— Pregnant women, who may need extra iron.— Breastfed infants and possibly other infants concerning vitamin D.Vitamin D is a nutrient many of us may need to supplement. Last fall, the Institute of Medicine, a panel of scientists who advise the government, raised the recommended amount but also warned against overdoing it. People ages 1 to 70 should get 600 international units a day, older folks 800 units.If you do need a supplement, beware: Quality varies. Consumerlab.com, a company that tests supplements and publishes ratings for subscribers, has found a high rate of problems in the 3,000 products it has tested since 1999."One out of 4 either doesn't contain what it claims or has some other problems such as contamination or the pills won't break apart properly," said company president Dr. Tod Cooperman.For example, one gummy bear calcium product had 250 percent of the amount of vitamin D claimed on the label. Another liquid product made with rose hips had just over half the amount of vitamin C listed."You don't have to pay a lot. Price is not necessarily linked to quality," he said. "The quality doesn't really relate to where you're buying it. I know many people are surprised by that or don't want to believe it, but that is the case. We find good and bad products in every venue."Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council, suggests looking for "seals of approval" or certifications of quality from groups that spot-test supplements such as the USP, or United States Pharmacopeia; NSF International and NPA, the Natural Products Association.Experts offered this advice:— Keep it simple. The more ingredients there are in a supplement combo, the more chance that one of them will not be the right amount, Cooperman said.— Consider a supplement combo tailored to your gender and age, the Office of Dietary Supplements suggests. Multivitamins often contain little iron, and ones for seniors give more calcium and vitamin D than products aimed at younger adults.— Take vitamin D with dinner. A study found significantly more absorption of that nutrient when it was consumed at the largest meal, which tends to have more fat, than at breakfast, Cooperman said.— Watch out for vitamin K — it promotes clotting and can interfere with common heart medicines and blood thinners such as warfarin, sold as Coumadin and other brands.— Current and former smokers are advised to avoid multivitamins with lots of beta-carotene or vitamin A; two studies have tied them to increased risk of lung cancer.— For cancer patients, "vitamins C and E might reduce the effectiveness of certain types of chemotherapy," Engel said.— People having surgery should know that some vitamins can affect bleeding and response to anesthesia.With any supplement — ask your doctor.__Online:Vitamin facts: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/list-VitaminsMineralsand http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/MVMS-HealthProfessionalFAQs: http://ods.od.nih.gov/Health_Information/ODS_Frequently_Asked_Questions.aspxDietary advice: www.dietaryguidelines.govVitamin E and prostate study: http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/306/14/1549Video interview with author: http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/306/14/1549/suppl/DC1___Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAPAssociated Press 
