Don’t let this happen to your daughter
October 12, 2011
You Docs
We have been on your case for a while about how vital it is to check your vitamin D-3 levels. Not because we hate losing readers! Though we do. Because being chronically low on D-3 ups your odds for a basket of uglies: colon, breast and ovarian cancer; heart disease; weak bones; asthma; cold and flu; diabetes; multiple sclerosis; and high blood pressure. Links also have turned up between low D and pneumonia. And anemia. And memory problems. (Did you just call your doc to schedule a test?)
Now we’re worrying about low D-3 in kids, especially girls, because it’s been connected with early menstruation. Combined with low D, early periods make them more vulnerable to all kinds of problems: obesity, stunted growth, asthma, heart trouble, childhood pregnancy, breast cancer and more. Put bluntly: Girls who are low on D and menstruate early can turn into short, fat, asthmatic kids who become sick adults. What to do?
• Talk to your pediatrician about D-3 tests for children, especially girls.
• Make sure kids (you, too) get 10 to 20 minutes of sunshine daily. It tells skin to make D-3. (Only exception: kids at high risk of burning.)
• Give kids half a multivitamin twice a day. Add extra D-3 if your pediatrician says it’s needed.
• Boost D-3 absorption with omega-3s from fish (canned tuna’s fine), walnuts and supplements (20 mg per year of age for kids until the dose hits 900 mg — your “kid” will be 45 then!).
YouDocs Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen are authors of YOU: Losing Weight. Order it at StarStore.ca. Submit questions and find more info at RealAge.com Links: http://starstore.ca http://www.realage.com
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