31 May
Is your child getting enough of the ‘sunshine’ vitamin?
Overweight children in Ireland have low vitamin D levels . . . ‘among the lowest in the world’
Sometimes it seems that as soon as we take one health message to heart, we run into another problem as a result.
The importance of year-round sunscreen to protect against skin cancer is getting through to people and, in a spin-off, many brands of moisturiser and make-up now like to boast of their “built-in” sun protection. Those really paranoid – of wrinkles at least – like to cover up at all times.
Yet there is now concern about inadequate levels of the so-called “sunshine vitamin” D among the Irish population. Sunlight on the skin is an important source of this vitamin, which is vital for healthy bones and teeth, among other things.