Related Experiment Videos
Vitamin D requirements of children: "all my life's a circle"
1Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. sabrams@bcm.edu
Abstract:
The importance of vitamin D for ensuring the health of children has long been understood. Over time, however, dietary recommendations for vitamin D intake have varied, with some eras seeing higher levels recommended and some lower. Remarkably, the current recommendations from the Institute of Medicine are not much different from those released with the first edition of the recommended dietary allowances in 1941. The present review examines the evolution of vitamin D recommendations over time and considers the differences and potential consequences related to the various recommendations in effect today. In considering strategies to evaluate the vitamin D status of children and efforts to assure its adequacy, individual caregivers and policy makers need to consider carefully the costs and potential risks of different screening strategies involving blood testing in children and of supplementation. More data on the long-term risks and benefits are needed before widespread screening or supplementation can be advocated.
Related Concept Videos
Role of Skin in Vitamin D Synthesis
The solar UV B rays (290-315 nm) are absorbed by the skin, and 7-dehydrocholesterol (provitamin D3) photolyzes it to previtamin D3, which undergoes a rapid transformation to vitamin D3(cholecalciferol).
Vitamins
Role of Vitamins in Maintaining Bone Health
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is involved in the process of bone remodeling. Retinoic acid, the active metabolite of Vitamin A, has nuclear receptors in osteoblasts and osteoclasts, which are involved in bone remodeling.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 acts as a cofactor during the formation of osteoblast-related proteins, such as osteocalcin. Vitamin B12 plays a role...
Drug Dosing: Infants and Children
Requirements for Human Life
Oxygen
Atmospheric air is only about 20 percent oxygen, but that oxygen is a key component of the chemical reactions that keep the body alive, including the reactions that produce ATP. Brain cells are susceptible to a lack of oxygen because they require a...
Connective Tissue Cell Types
Fat cells (adipocytes), smooth muscle cells (myoblasts), and bone cells (osteoblasts) are some connective tissue cell types. Some immune system cells...