Bledidoc Answers
How can I know if my child is Vitamin D deficient?

Vitamin D can either be synthesized by the body using UVB light and exposure to sunlight or by being absorbed via the digestive system from certain foods.

Vitamin D has an important role in facilitating calcium absorption from the gut and maintaining calcium homeostasis. So any deficiency in vitamin D can contribute to several orthopedic conditions, including SUFE, Perthes, Osteomalacia and fragility fractures,1 it can also negatively affects several tissues, including the brain, colon, and immune system. Vitamin D deficiency is also shown to be connected with development of several diseases.2

Deficiency in Vitamin D can cause:

  1. Pain: especially lower limb long bone pain that might wake the child up from sleep at night
  2. Deformity: genu valgum, genu varum or growth retardation
  3. Development: delay in walking
  4. Muscle: aches, pains or weakness
  5. Calcium imbalance: tetany, cardiomyopathy and seizures

If you notice any of these presentations in your child’s body, you must consult the doctor the soonest.1

 

Dr. Nabil Hajj Hassan

Pediatrician

 

1Nottingham University Hospital  https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/vitamin-d-deficiency-in-children/
2Vitamin D Deficiency in Children: Health Consequences and Prevention - ScienceDirect



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