ETS Tanning Bed Blog

When I was a kid, we played outside every day from about April to November and if it wasn't too cold in the winter, our mothers sent us out in the snow. Today, kids are inside playing video games, watching movies, surfing the Internet and simply not getting the sunlight and vitamin D they need to maintain their personal health.

While I don't want to turn this into a story about how I had to walk ten miles to school (it was actually only eight), I think this downturn in sun exposure could translate into a downturn for our children's health.

For instance, did you know that rickets is actually making a comeback ? Rickets?! Yes, the same disease that plagued mine-working children during the Industrial Revolution in sun-starved Britain . That rickets.

In the early 1920s, it was Johns Hopkins researcher Elmer McCollum who discovered the connetion between rickets and vitamin D. In fact, it was McCollum who "discovered" vitamin D by curing rickets after heating cod-liver oil (a commonly-believed cure at the time), which destroyed its vitamin A properties, but left an unknown nutrient. McCollumn named it D, since vitamins B and C had recently been discovered.

Although most of our milk products, and even eggs, are fortified with vitamin D, it doesn't seem to be enough to stop this previously eradicated disease. Another alarming statistic cited in the article linked above (Vitamin D Levels in Kids are So Low that Rickets is Back with a Vengeance) is that kids' bones are developing normally, but are significantly softer.

The consequence of lower vitamin D is more breaks. Forty-six percent more girls are breaking their arms than compared to 40 years ago and 32 percent more boys. Scientists and doctors believe this may be the result of widespread vitamin D deficiency, which has been brought about because of reduced sun exposure.

With kids either staying inside or being constantly lathered with sunscreen, they're simply not getting the sun exposure they need. And truthfully, it's not that much - just 10-15 minutes of direct sunlight 2-3 days per week to get those all-important UV-B rays. By increasing a kid's vitamin D levels, we can reduce rickets, and even prevent future diseases from occurring when they're adults.

Vitamin D is essential to our health and luckily, it's one of the few vitamins that our body can create on its own, simply by synthesizing sunlight. It's responsible for maintaining calcium and phosphorous levels, improving bone growth and boosting the immune system.

Osteoperosis, Rickets, Osteomalacia and arthritis have all been linked to vitamin D deficiency. A recent 2006 study published in the American Journal of Public Health even determined that healthy vitamin D levels could reduce cancer incidence .

Recommended Vitamin D Levels

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin D is 400 IU for anyone over the age of 4.

How to Get Vitamin D

One of the easiest ways to get vitamin D is through UV-B ray exposure. In other words, via sunlight or artificial methods such as tanning lamps. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) , "Most people meet their vitamin D needs through exposure to sunlight."

The NIH goes on to say, "It has been suggested by some vitamin D researchers, for example, that approximately 5-30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen usually lead to sufficient vitamin D synthesis and that the moderate use of commercial tanning beds that emit 2-6% UVB radiation is also effective. "

Vitamin D can also be obtained through dietary sources, with wild-caught fish having some of the highest levels in the food chain:

Cod liver oil, 1 tbsp: 1,360 IU
Wild mollusks or oysters, raw, 8.7 ounces: 794 IU
Salmon, cooked, 3.5 oz: 360 IU
Mackerel, cooked, 3.5 oz: 34I U
Sardines, canned in oil, 3.5 oz: 270 IU
Beef Liver, cooked, 3.5 oz: 30 IU
Whole Egg: 25 U

Many foods are also fortified with vitamin D. For example, most of the U.S. milk supply is fortified to the tune of 100 IU/cup since fortification became standard practice in the 1930s as a way of combating rickets.

The FDA does not endorse indoor tanning, nor does the National Institutes of Health. However, both organizations agree that vitamin D is critical to our health and UV-B ray exposure is a primary source of the crucial vitamin.