How sunshine can stop children from getting fat
TODDLERS who get plenty of fresh air and sunshine are less fat than other children.
A healthy intake in their first year of vitamin D – which can be obtained through sunlight – appears to set children up to have more muscle and less body fat.
The findings from a study in Canada surprised scientists, who wanted to confirm the importance of vitamin D for bone density.
Researcher Dr Hope Weiler said: “We were very intrigued by the higher lean mass, the possibility that vitamin D can help infants to not only grow healthy skeletons but also healthy amounts of muscle and less fat.” The results, pub- lished in the journal Pediatric Obesity, make the connection for the first time between vitamin D, a babies’ first 12 to 36 months and how their muscle mass develops.
Vitamin D supplements are routinely recommended for babies until they can get an adequate amount through their diet.
Most of our vitamin D is from when sunlight hits the skin but experts say it is difficult to get enough during the British winter.
The NHS says youngsters aged six months to five years need a supplement in the form of drops.
Scientists followed up a 2013 study in which 132 infants in Montreal were given a vitamin D supplement at one of four different dosages between the ages of one month and 12 months.
They found children who had vitamin D stores above the recommended threshold averaged around a pound ( 450 grams) less body fat at three years of age.
Further research also found a link between lean muscle mass and the average level of vitamin D in the body over the first three years of a child’s life.
Vitamin D is also found in a small number of foods such as oily fish – including salmon, sardines and mackerel – and eggs.