Jan. 14, 2013 Taking a vitamin D supplement and drinking cow's
milk are the two most important factors that determine how much
vitamin D is in a child's body, new research has found. Those
factors play a bigger role than even skin colour and exposure to
the sun, according to Dr. Jonathon Maguire, a researcher and
pediatrician at St. Michael's Hospital. "Early childhood is a
critical stage in human development, so achieving and
maintaining optimal vitamin D levels in early childhood may be
important to health outcomes in later childhood and adulthood,"
Dr. Maguire said. His research was published January 14 in the
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Vitamin D
deficiency is a risk factor for a number of illnesses, including
asthma and allergies in children. Severe deficiency can cause
rickets, a softening of bones. Yet dietary records of Canadian
infants show that at 12 months they are receiving only 11 per
cent of their recommended daily allowance of vitamin D through
food such as oily fish, fortif