Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient that helps the body to build and maintain strong bones and teeth. Everyone probably knows that vitamin D is very useful for kids because it prevents rickets, a disease that affects bone growth in children.However, hardly someone has thought about critical meaning of vitamin D in evolution of animals’ life. This element promotes bone mineralization which forms strong skeleton system. Due to this function, vitamin D played a determinative role in creating and keeping of skeleton in early vertebrates when they left their calcium-rich ocean to land over 350 millions years ago. Because the main source of vitamin D is sunlight, early vertebrates used to be exposed to sun as ultraviolet rays stimulated the skin to form vitamin D on its own.
When converted in the kidneys, vitamin D regulates the level of calcium and phosphate in the bloodstream, providing the healthy mineralization, growth and remodeling of bones and defending the body against microbial invaders as well.
In the lack of requisite amount of vitamin D, the body steals calcium from the bones to keep stable blood levels. With vitamin D deficiency, bones become thin, brittle, soft, or misshapen. This causes rickets in children and osteoporosis (fragile bones) in adults.
Rickets is a bone-softening disease when bones don't mineralize properly that cause bowed legs and other bone deformities such as thin, pliable skull, abnormal ball-like head, brittle teeth with many cavities swollen wrists and ankles. The tips of the ribs can form a string of lumps so called the rachitic rosary.
Nowadays many experts are concerned that many kids aren't getting enough vitamin D from sun exposure. Only a few foods naturally contain significant amounts of vitamin D, with the best sources being milk, fatty fish and cod liver oil. Other food sources of vitamin D include cereals, mushrooms, eggs, liver, and cheese. Many foods are now enriched with vitamin D.
Breastfeeding is the best nutrition for infants and source of vitamin D. However, because of vitamin D deficiencies, vitamin D intake is often recommended for breast-fed infants beginning at birth and until one year of age. Older children who do not drink much milk should receive extra vitamin D supplements. It is a noteworthy remark that risk factor for low vitamin D levels is to be at least 3 to 4 hours of television and computer use each day, which many kids get.
Vitamin D plays an important role in strengthening the immune system and assists to prevent infections. This vitamin also regulates neuromuscular function, reduces inflammation, and influences the action of many genes that affect the vital activity of cells. Researches also have found out that low levels of vitamin D may entail an increased risk of cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and high blood pressure. Thus deficiency of vitamin D causes for influenza infection during winter. Vitamin D supplementation is helpful for many people to keep the good health during the years.