Bone Vitamins for Children Can Prevent Rickets

Rickets is a disease that causes bone development disorders in children aged six months to three years. Lack of vitamins in children's bones, such as vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus, is a major cause of rickets.

According to nutrition research conducted with Indonesian children, children's vitamin D needs need special attention. Data shows that only 5.6% of all Indonesian children have met their bone vitamin requirements. Not only because of lack of vitamin D intake, rickets may be found in infants and children with low milk intake, and in infants who only receive milk for up to 6 months.

As a result, many Indonesian children are at risk of developing rickets. Rickets can cause serious complications, including bone softening and brittle bone fragility.

With the facts above, it is important for you to meet the needs of bone vitamins for your child. What can be done to meet the needs of children's bone vitamins?
Source of bone vitamins for children

Vitamin D is vitamin D which helps children prevent rickets. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus. Calcium and phosphorus are important for healthy bones, teeth and muscles.

The need for bone vitamins in children can be obtained by sunlight, certain types of food and supplements.

How much bone vitamin for a child is needed per day? Infants aged 0 to 12 months need 400 IU of vitamin D per day, while children aged one year to adult need 600 IU per day.
Bone vitamins from the sun

Sunlight is the easiest way to meet the needs of bone vitamins in children. When the skin is exposed to the sun's ultraviolet rays, the body also produces vitamin D.

As we know, sunlight contains ultraviolet A and B. When UV B light hits the skin, the skin will automatically form vitamin D3 which will be converted into active vitamin D by the liver and kidneys.

The best time for your child to get his vitamins from the sun is when his shadow is smaller than his height, which is around 8:00 am to 10:00 am (WIB).

Relaxing in the sun will only last 5 to 15 minutes and drink 4 to 6 times a week. It is recommended that the body parts of children exposed to sunlight are the hands and feet.
Food Vitamins
Some foods contain enough vitamin D for the body. You can give your child some examples of the following foods to meet bone vitamin needs.

Fish (salmon contains 447 IU of vitamin D for 85 grams, mackerel contains 720 IU of vitamin D for 28 grams)
Orange juice (137 IU vitamin D per 236 ml)
Dairy products fortified with vitamin D (including milk and yogurt). There are 124 IU of vitamin D in 236 ml of milk and 60 to 80 IU of vitamin D per bottle or 170 grams of yogurt.
Breakfast cereals fortified with vitamin D (40 to 80 IU of vitamin D per bowl)
Eggs (41 IU vitamin D per egg)

Bone vitamin supplements for children

Consistent with the above findings, it is recommended that children aged 6 months to 5 years receive a daily vitamin D supplement. Doses of vitamin D supplements that should be given to infants and children every day to prevent rickets are as follows:

Infants under the age of one who are breastfed are advised to consume between 8.5 and 10 micrograms of vitamin D supplements.
Children aged 1 to 4 years must receive vitamin D supplements at a rate of 10 micrograms per day.

Lack of vitamins in bones such as vitamin D in children can cause rickets. Hopefully this information is useful to meet your child's bone vitamin needs.