Teenage Girls Lacking In Vitamin D

Science Daily ^ | 1-30-2004 | University Of Maine

[blam]

Source: University Of Maine
Date: 2004-01-30

Teenage Girls Lacking In Vitamin D

A University of Maine researcher has found evidence that many girls in Maine are not getting enough vitamin D, either from their diets or sun exposure. Lack of the critical nutrient could lead to health risks later in life, especially for osteoporosis. Vitamin D is necessary for the growth of healthy bones and may be critical in other bodily processes as well.

What's Related Lack Of Sun Poses Danger In Our Twilight Years

Over the last three years, Susan Sullivan of the Dept. of Food Science and Human Nutrition has monitored sun exposure, diet and blood levels of vitamin D in 23 girls from ages 10 to 13 years old. All of her subjects live in the Bangor, Maine area. She conducted the study with Dr. Cliff Rosen of the Maine Center for Osteoporosis Research and Education, St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor. In her research and previous experience as a clinical dietitian at Massachusetts General Hospital, Sullivan has focused on the medical consequences of dietary habits. For her 1995 doctoral degree at Boston University, she studied the relationship between fat intake and blood cholesterol levels in kidney transplant recipients.

Vitamin D is an emerging area of medical research, says Sullivan. Medical scientists have yet to understand the whole story about vitamin D and the body. "We've known for a long time that vitamin D has a role in getting calcium into bones. Researchers are now finding evidence that vitamin D could play other roles in health such as cancer prevention and controlling blood pressure. There are vitamin D receptors in lots of tissues in the body that aren't related to bone," she explains.

The largest single source of vitamin D is the skin, which makes the nutrient when it is exposed to sunlight. Diet plays a less important role but, for people at high northern latitudes, helps to supplement the body's vitamin D store during the winter months when sunlight is less intense.

Since having adequate levels of vitamin D supports bone growth, Sullivan monitored bone density in her subjects. She confirmed that as they go through puberty, girls rapidly add calcium to their bones. "Puberty is a very critical time when up to half of a person's adult bone mass is being deposited. If you think about life span, peak bone mass occurs at about the age of 30. This is such an important time when girls are growing their bones."

Sullivan's results were presented in 2003 at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. Almost half of the Bangor area girls in her study had insufficient levels of vitamin D in their blood in March, a time of the year when the nutrient usually falls to its lowest level over the course of the year. In September, when the nutrient is usually at its highest level, 17 percent also fell below the standard, currently 20 nanograms per milliliter of blood.

As scientists uncover more details about the role that vitamin D plays in the body, they have begun to suggest that the standard be raised to about 30 nanograms per milliliter, Sullivan adds. "How much vitamin D is necessary for optimal health? We don't really know. There's a real need for more research on that question," she adds.

To generate vitamin D, Sullivan and other nutritionists recommend getting five to ten minutes of sun exposure between roughly 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily in the summer. Sunscreen lotions should be used after the first five or ten minutes. Vitamin D fortified foods such as milk, some varieties of orange juice, yogurt, margarine and cereals are helpful. Fatty fish such as salmon also provide a vitamin D boost. Eating three servings per day of dairy products fortified with vitamin D will provide both the vitamin D and calcium to build strong bones. "People who practice sun avoidance, who never go out in the sun without covering up completely, run a real risk of insufficient vitamin D levels," Sullivan adds. Sullivan has received support for her study from the Maine Dairy and Nutrition Council. Dr. Michael F. Holick of the Boston University School of Medicine also contributed to the study by conducting laboratory analyses and assisting with the interpretation of the data.

[blam]

I've read that it was lack of vitamin D that caused Europeans to turn white, thousands of years ago.

[The G Man]

Obviously the fault of Haliburton.

[TheBigB]

What did Bush know about this?

[EggsAckley]

Lack of sun causes ME to turn into a black-hearted monster.

[Snake65]

We got cod liver oil every other day during Minnesota winters. Rich in Vitamin D. It's the Norwegian panacea.

[BrooklynGOP]

Teenage Girls Lacking In Vitamin D

Nah.. too easy.

[b4its2late]

Time for a Congressional panel....

[Redcloak]

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that human skin color has less to do with vitamin D than it does with notions of what's attractive. Europeans may have white skin simply because their ancestors found fair complexions more attractive. Conversely, Africans may have dark skin because their ancestors found dark skin more appealing. The added benefit of producing more vitamin D if you're a fair-skinned European would also figure into appearance; the healthier you are, the better looking you are.

[MineralMan]

"We got cod liver oil every other day during Minnesota winters. Rich in Vitamin D. It's the Norwegian panacea."

Yah, sure. It's good for whatever ails you, you bet.

[BayouCoyote]

Nah.. too easy.


Tell me about it

[untenured]

Vitamin D fortified foods such as milk, some varieties of orange juice, yogurt, margarine and cereals are helpful. Fatty fish such as salmon also provide a vitamin D boost. Eating three servings per day of dairy products fortified with vitamin D will provide both the vitamin D and calcium to build strong bones.

Good luck with that. The freshmen students in my classes seem to rely on a diet of mostly 20-oz. Mountain Dews and Snickers bars.

[Cronos]

I've read that it was lack of vitamin D that caused Europeans to turn white, thousands of years ago.

That's interesting. Since most Europeans are Aryanic, they would have originally had a brown skin like Iranians or northern Indians. As they moved to the north with less sun, they would have lacked Vitamin D and had lesser melanin. Those that moved south gained melanin to protect against the sun.

[blam]

"I wouldn't be surprised to hear that human skin color has less to do with vitamin D than it does with notions of what's attractive. Europeans may have white skin simply because their ancestors found fair complexions more attractive. Conversely, Africans may have dark skin because their ancestors found dark skin more appealing. The added benefit of producing more vitamin D if you're a fair-skinned European would also figure into appearance; the healthier you are, the better looking you are."

Yup, you get it.

In Europe, white was beautiful because it was an indication of good health. In Africa, Black was beautiful for the same reason. The darkest of Africans only get skin cancer on their palms and lower lips where the skin is the lightest...while Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. Lack of vitamin D causes scurvvy and numerous other disfiguring diseases. When Europeans covered up to keep warm, they severely decreased their intake (mfg) of vitamin D.

Eskimos didn't turn white because their diet is high in seafood which provides adequate vitamin D.

[Cronos]

than it does with notions of what's attractive

I don't think so, have you ever been to a hotter country like the middle east? White skin burns very quickly out there unless we put on suntan lotion. A darker skin works better in a sunner climate. In a cold climate, well, we're not really "white", we're actually colourless, lackign melanin

[PianoMan]

I just bought a light therapy box. I feel better after 2 days.

[EggsAckley]

Please, tell me more.

[cherry]

I read somewhere sometime ago that the differances in the races was due purely to human selection.....

[janette]

That's called evolution! Better equipped - survival, and providing the gens to the next generation.

[Cronos]

I DO know that. However, Red brought up a good point -- evolution can be either because of necessity or because the mate likes it (which since it means the guy gets to .... Is a necessity too!). For example peacocks' tails are due to this beauty in the eye of the peahen beholder.

[Redcloak]

We often overlook how much we've been shaped by what gave Great^nth Grandpa the hots for Great^nth Grandma.