There is urgency in the health community to get the word out again about the need for vitamin D in the diet. It is a warning that parents should pay heed to as teenagers are one of the biggest at-risk communities when it comes to not meeting the recommended daily allowances of vitamin D.

The FDA recommends the following for vitamin D consumption in a day:

200 IU per day for children and adults 50 years old and under
400 IU per day for adults greater than 50 years old
600-800 IU per day for the elderly greater than 70 years old

Vitamin D, better known as the sunshine vitamin, is a hard vitamin to swallow because the best form of vitamin D is just that, sunshine. It is important to know that researchers’ findings tell us that we only need fifteen minutes of sunshine a few times a week. Doesn’t seem like such a bad request, of course one would hope that our daughters are actually getting fifteen minutes or more of sunshine a day (with sunscreen of course serving as a UV block perhaps we should get more).

The requirements aren’t the same for everyone though. There is great concern over the amounts of sunshine that Black and Hispanic teens are getting. Studies show it takes longer for vitamin D to enter their blood stream due to the color of their skin. The findings are that these communities suffer higher incidents of high blood pressure and high blood sugar readings than other teens.

Some people might not even think of vitamin D as more than the vitamin that assists in bone growth. Vitamin D is that and so much more. Vitamin D or the lack thereof, contributes to our health in relation to our bones, our heart health and also whether our body can fight off cancer. For our daughters all these areas are key health checks we should teach them to be concerned with, bones, heart and cancer.

A combination of things will ensure our daughters are getting enough vitamin D. The three core things to consider are sunshine, diet and supplements. Are they outside enough, eating enough foods with the vitamin, or taking supplements as needed.

For more information, please visit our News for Kids, Breast Cancer and Cancer site at BellaOnline. For your convenience links are provided below to the most recent relevant articles on Vitamin D lacking in teens and the importance of vitamin D in the fight against breast cancer and other forms of cancer.