Individuals throughout the UK are being prompted to take a daily supplement priced at approximately 4p per tablet. Vitamin D, crucial for regulating calcium and phosphate levels within our bodies, is vital for sustaining healthy bones, teeth, and muscles.
An insufficiency in this key vitamin can lead to bone deformities like rickets in children, and a painful condition referred to as osteomalacia or “soft bones” in adults.
Typically, from late March or early April until the end of September, most individuals should acquire sufficient vitamin D from sunlight. Nonetheless, as the days become shorter, the Government recommends everyone to contemplate taking a daily Vitamin D supplement from October, starting this Wednesday.
Individuals more prone to Vitamin D deficiency, such as children aged one to four, and infants not consuming more than 500ml of infant formula daily, should take a supplement throughout the year, according to the NHS.
Aside from sunlight, Vitamin D is also present in a limited range of foods including oily fish, red meat, egg yolks, and fortified breakfast cereals.
From the age of 1 year onwards, children and adults require 10 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D daily. This includes pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as those 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.
