People across the UK are being encouraged to take a daily supplement that is available for around 4p per pill. Vitamin D, which helps control the levels of calcium and phosphate in our bodies, is essential for maintaining healthy bones, teeth and muscles.
A deficiency in this vital vitamin can result in bone deformities such as rickets in children, and a painful condition known as osteomalacia, or “soft bones”, in adults.
From late March or early April until the end of September, most people should be able to get all the vitamin D they need from sunlight. However, as we move into the darker months, the Government advises everyone to consider taking a daily Vitamin D supplement starting from October, which begins this Wednesday.
People with a higher risk of Vitamin D deficiency, such as children aged one to four, and babies who are not having more than 500ml of infant formula per day, should take a supplement year round, the NHS adds.
As well as in sunlight, Vitamin D can also be found in a small number of foods such as oily fish, red meat, egg yolks, and fortified breakfast cereals.
Children from the age of 1 year and adults need 10 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D a day. This includes pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people at risk of vitamin D deficiency.
NHS guidance adds: “Since it’s difficult for people to get enough vitamin D from food alone, everyone should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D during the autumn and winter.”
The Department of Health and Social Care recommends that babies aged up to one year should have a daily supplement containing 8.5 to 10 micrograms of vitamin D throughout the year if they are breastfed, or if they are formula-fed and are having less than 500ml (about a pint) of infant formula a day.