n e w s m a k e r s : Breast-fed Babies Need Vitamin D

by Cate House

others who breast feed should be careful that their children are getting enough vitamin D. This advice stems from research at UNC-CH and Wake Forest University in which doctors have found new evidence of nutritional rickets, a bone-weakening condition in infants and children caused by a deficiency of vitamin D.

Together, the two universities have tracked more than 30 cases of rickets since 1990, with half of the cases occurring since 1998. All 30 cases were among African American infants who were breast fed.

Henry N. Kirkman, professor emeritus of pediatrics, explains that nutritional rickets was pretty much wiped out in the U.S. during the 1930s, when it became law that vitamin D be added to milk. Researchers believe that recent information about the benefits of breast feeding has increased its popularity, and that this may explain why nutritional rickets is making a comeback. While breast milk is almost nutritionally perfect, it is not a good source of vitamin D.

Skin produces vitamin D in response to sunlight, so light-skinned infants can obtain the needed vitamin by spending 30 minutes a day outside. Because the melanin that protects dark skin from sunburn also filters out the ultraviolet rays needed for making vitamin D, researchers recommend that all dark-skinned breast-fed infants receive vitamin D supplements beginning in early infancy.

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