A quarter of all young generations are lacking Vitamin D, according to research in the UK.

Vitamin D supplements are recommended for those people at risk of deficiency, including all pregnant and breastfeeding women, children under five, and the elderly, but 74% of parents know nothing about them and more than half of healthcare professionals are also unaware of it.
There are many other children who have less severe problems - muscle weakness, delay in walking, bone pains - and research indicates that in many parts of the country the majority of children have a low level of Vitamin D.
It is important to raise awareness of this issue, and I will be contacting health professionals on the need to prescribe and recommend vitamin D supplements to at-risk groups.

Vitamin D is essential for strong bones because it helps the body use calcium from the diet. Traditionally, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with rickets, a disease in which the bone tissue doesn't properly mineralize, leading to soft bones and skeletal deformities. But increasingly, research is revealing the importance of vitamin D in protecting against a host of health problems.
Symptoms of bone pain and muscle weakness can mean you have a vitamin D deficiency. However, for many people, the symptoms are subtle. Yet even without symptoms, too little vitamin D can pose health risks. Research suggests that vitamin D could play a role in the prevention and treatment of a number of different conditions, including type1 and type 2diabetes, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and multiple sclerosis.

Vitamin D acts to regulate the calcium and phosphate levels in the body, thus promoting healthy bones. The characteristic vitamin D deficiency state is called rickets. Rickets causes softening and poor mineralization of the bones, leading to skeletal deformities. While rickets is the term typically used to describe the condition in children, osteomalacia refers to the weakening of bones seen in adults who are severely deficient in vitamin D.

Treatment for vitamin D deficiency involves getting more vitamin D - through diet, supplements, and/or through spending more time in the sun. Although there is no consensus on vitamin D levels required for optimal health - and it likely differs depending on age and health conditions -- a concentration of less than 20 nanograms per milliliter is generally considered inadequate, requiring treatment.

In humans, vitamin D is critically important for the development, growth, and maintenance of a healthy body, beginning with gestation in the womb and continuing throughout the lifespan. Health conscious individuals understand the importance of maintaining proper vitamin D blood levels to dramatically lower the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, cancer and many autoimmune conditions. Researchers have now made an important connection between vitamin D status and advancing degrees of cognitive impairment. Proper levels of the sunshine vitamin are critical to maintain optimal brain health, and the risk of cognitive decline is doubled in aging adults with the lowest circulating blood readings of vitamin D. Many people have difficulty obtaining sufficient vitamin D from diet or sun exposure and must supplement to lower the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer`s disease.

According to a recent Study Vitamin D is Critical to Brain Health. Vitamin D intake is associated with a decreased incidence of cognitive impairment. To achieve optimal protection, the vast majority of people will need to supplement with vitamin D.