Overview study: Vitamin D in short supply among overweight children

This couch-potato mentality apparently has a negative impact on the body’s supply of the “sunshine vitamin” – vitamin D. A recent study shows that vitamin D deficiency is especially common among obese children. 96% of German, nearly 79% of American and up to 92% of Russian overweight children suffer from low vitamin D levels. A person’s vitamin D levels can easily be determined by a blood test. Individual measures, under medical supervision if necessary, can be selected on the basis of the results of these tests and individual lifestyle choices.

Vitamin D differs from other vitamins in that the body meets most of its needs with the aid of sunlight. As a result, bookworms, TV junkies and computer geeks have an increased risk of developing vitamin D deficiencies. Parents of young homebodies should therefore get their children outside at least once a day for a minimum of 15 minutes. This is especially important in the spring and summer months, as the body cannot produce vitamin D in the fall and winter due to the low position of the sun in the sky. Instead, it has to draw on the vitamin D reserves it has stockpiled during the summer. The German Nutrition Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung) also recommends including plenty of foods in our diet that are rich in vitamin-D and/or taking vitamin D supplements to tide us over the months when a lack of sunlight impedes the body’s production of vitamin D.