Importance of Vitamin D for Growing Children

Vitamin D is rich in calcium and phosphorous which is crucial for your child’s growth and for a healthy bone structure. That is the reason why parents need to ensure that their child gets enough Vitamin D in his/her diet.

Here’s how Vitamin D is beneficial for the growth of your child-

1) Improves Immunity

Children are prone to infections and vitamin D contributes to building a healthy immune system in children. Vitamin D generates 200 antimicrobial peptides which help protect kids against harmful infections.

2) Improves Eyesight

Vitamin D helps improve vision in growing children. Parents should ask their children to play outdoors in the sunlight rather than indoors, as this might help their kids get a good dose of Vitamin D. Also, vitamin D helps in reducing dryness in the eyes, inflammation, fatigue, blurred vision and eye discomfort issues in kids.

3) Boost Memory Power

Vitamin D has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help in boosting brain functions in kids.  So if you want your kid to have a sharp brains and be smart in their studies, included vitamin D in his/her diet. One of the main sources of Vitamin D is sunlight.

4) Controls Blood Pressure

Vitamin D helps to control blood pressure levels and reduces the incidence of hypertension and other heart diseases, when given to kids from an early age.

5) Bone Health

Vitamin D is extremely important for bone health. With sufficient vitamin D intake from various foods and exposure to sunlight there are very less chances of your child contracting rickets or other bone related issues. As a healthy bone structure is very essential for growing children, let kids to play in the sunlight for a few hours everyday. 

Good Sources of Vitamin D

Now that you know why you should include Vitamin D in your kids’ diet, take a look at some of the best sources of this essential vitamin:

• Mushrooms are rich in vitamin D. A cup of sliced mushrooms can give up to 700 UIs of this essential vitamin.
• Fish oils in salmon are another good source of vitamin D.
• Cereals are another source that gives vitamin D. A cup of cereal in your breakfast can provide 100 UIs of this vitamin.
• Milk has to be fortified to gain the benefits of this vitamin. Milk is also rich in calcium and potassium.
• Egg yolk also contains vitamin D. Add eggs to your daily diet.
• Besides these, this vitamin is also found in sunlight and in supplements.

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Nithya Lakshmi