D for deficiency - Scoop: health/fitness/nutrition/diet/supplements/personal care/environment - vitamin D supplements for breastfed infants - Brief Article

Vegetarian Times, Sept, 2003

The American Academy of Pediatrics says that breastfed infants should receive vitamin D supplements beginning at 2 months of age and continue until they can take at least 17 ounces of vitamin D-fortified milk daily. The recommendation, published in the April 2003 issue of Pediatrics, also applies to children and adolescents who do not drink at least 17 ounces of vitamin D-fortified milk daily or who don't already take multivitamins with at least 200 international units (IU) of vitamin D.

The new recommendation comes amid growing concerns that children should be protected from sunlight, a natural source of the vitamin. Doctors fear that these deficiencies could put youngsters at risk of rickets, a disease of the skeletal system that causes soft and bendable bones.