Millions of children will need to take their vitamin D supplements each day to meet the new recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The academy has doubled its recommendation for a daily dose of vitamin D in children and adolescents in an attempt to prevent rickets and other diseases, ranging from cardiovascular disease to cancer, osteoporosis, and multiple sclerosis.

Pediatricians are recommending that children receive double the usually suggested amount of vitamin D, which was recommended by the academy in 2003. The amount recommended back then was 200 units daily for people up to age 50, 400 units for adults ages 51 to 70 and 600 units for those 71 and older. The new recommendation is to get at least 400 international units (IU), according to the new guidelines released by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The recommendation is especially important for breastfed babies who are at an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, as mother’s milk isn’t rich in vitamin D. Breastfed babies need to receive the recommended dose of vitamin D even from the first day of their lives.

“We are doubling the recommended amount of vitamin D children need each day because evidence has shown this could have life-long health benefits. Supplementation is important because most children will not get enough vitamin D through diet alone,” said Dr. Frank Greer, of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which released the new guideline recommendations at a meeting in Boston.  

The agency’s decision follows a number of recent research studies that have shown that vitamin D is playing a crucial role in helping our immune system fight back diseases. The deficiency of vitamin D during childhood and adolescence has outcomes later in life like the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, the risk of developing cancer disease, or osteoporosis. Previous studies have also linked low levels of vitamin D with high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.

Pediatricians say that supplementation is important because children will not get the necessary amount of vitamin D through diet alone. It is known that vitamin D, the so-called “sunshine vitamin,” is found in many dietary sources such as fish, eggs, fortified milk and cod liver oil. Besides supplements and dietary sources, vitamin D can be taken from direct exposure to the sun rays. On a sunny day, just 10 minutes of exposure to the sun rays will generate enough vitamin D to reach higher levels found protective in the study. Improper diet and lack of sun may contribute to vitamin D deficiency.

Earlier this year, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston found “suboptimal” levels of vitamin D in 40 percent of 380 otherwise healthy infants and toddlers. Children who do not get enough vitamin D are at risk for rickets, a bone-softening disease that result in stunted growth and skeletal deformities if not corrected while the child is young. The disease is rare in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, but there were reports in 2000 and 2001 of rickets among breastfed infants. Vitamin D is essential for absorbing calcium from food and building bones.