Take Your Vitamins, On Pain Of Pain

dacap writes "The American diet continues to deteriorate. In the news is the exacerbation of bone disease from a deficiency of vitamin D. Too little vitamin D also causes muscle pain and joint problems. How is it that we let something so easily remedied affect us? Details are in USA Today. The ultimate solution to this and many other health-related problems that techies suffer is a proper diet coupled with a multivitamin supplement and regular exercise. Too bad that these choices are so unpopular. A sound mind and sound body go together."

Comments

Although...

[Otter]

The American diet continues to deteriorate.

That's the spin in the article but there's no evidence given of any factor that has changed. Or even numbers to support a rise in rickets.

My guess is that a combination of kids' drinking less milk in favor of Mountain Dew and Big Gulps and their spending less time outside makes up a large part of the problem, but who knows? Clearly, a lot of it is simply that the UK and northern US simply get so little sun that the risk is always there.

It's not just the USA

[Zocalo]

Funny this should come up today, because in yesterday's paper here in the UK was a picture of a toddler from behind (I'd guess about 2-3 years old). She had quite severe ricketts (which is also caused by Vitamin D deficiency) such that her legs had a similar degree of curvature to a banana.

You can blame Margaret Thatcher for stopping children's milk in our schools way back when if you want, but the problem is far more serious than that, I think. With all the faddy and medically unproven diets such as Atkins being bandied about, how many parents are foisting those diets on thier children without any idea of the effects? I will not be at all suprised if medical disorders developed by bad diets in childhood are going to become as much of a problem for the health services as smoking related illnesses are now.

Re:It's not just the USA

[pmz]

Putting a child on a fad diet is asking for disaster. The only reason adults can tolerate such things is that our brain is more or less done growing, as is our bodies.

Kids need whole foods in adequate but not excessive amounts, more than anything. If only seafood didn't have so much pollution in it, tuna would be awesome brain food for a toddler. Peanuts aren't a bad second choice, though. Whole wheat bread has minerals what white bread doesn't. And so forth. I wonder how many kids are growing up brain-damaged, because of 10% fruit juice, white bread, french fries, etc. Goddamn stupid parents (and shifty advertisers...).