title: Rickets: concerns over the worldwide increase.
abstract: Rickets is a childhood disease that causes a softening of the bones, potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Eighty years ago it was thought to have largely been eradicated from the U.K. However a recent increase in cases of rickets, not just in Britain but around the world, has proven this isn't the case. Today the disease affects children from all types of socio-economic backgrounds, not just the poorer ones, and it is primarily caused by low levels of vitamin D and certain foods. In January 2011 the government's chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies recommended all children aged six months to five should be given vitamin D supplements, particularly during winter months when natural sunshine is limited. The irony is that the advice in recent years for children to wear a high factor sunscreen and remain covered up while playing outdoors are partly felt to be behind the reason for its re-emergence. Parents and health professionals alike were shocked when it was revealed that a school girl living on the Isle of Wight developed rickets precisely because of her mother's vigilance at following sun safety rules. NICE, in their latest report (Jan 2011) stated that: "Exposure to the sun has a number of benefits. For example, it increases people's sense of wellbeing, allows them to synthesise vitamin D and provides opportunities for physical activity". A tendency for children to stay indoors and watch TV or play on computer games, rather than play outside when the sun is shining, is arguably also another contributing factor.
authors.affiliation: Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.
authors.forename: Jacqui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lowdon
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015995:Prevalence; D012279:Rickets / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012307:Risk Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D