“Currently recommended daily allowances of vitamin D may be insufficient in children, according to researchers at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Vitamin D is present in a few foods, milk is usually fortified with it and with enough exposure to sunlight the body naturally produces it.”

The scholars noted that children with suboptimal vitamin D blood levels did not reach optimal levels after taking nearly twice the recommended amount of the nutrient daily for six months. Vitamin D is important for calcium metabolism and bone health, said lead investigator and Children’s Hospital pediatrician Kumaravel Rajakumar, M.D., M.S., who also is an associate professor of pediatrics at Pitt’s School of Medicine.

“Vitamin D deficiency is common in the northeastern U.S., especially in black children whose darker skin complexions have higher amounts of melanin, preventing absorption of the ultraviolet light that’s needed to trigger vitamin D synthesis.”

http://www.science20.com/news_articles/kids_may_need_more_vitamin_d-156504