According to a new study, approximately 70 percent of kids in America have a vitamin D deficiency, leading to higher risk for bone and heart disease.

"We expected the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency would be high, but the magnitude of the problem nationwide was shocking," said Juhi Kumar, M.D., M.P.H., the lead author of the study.

Almost one in 10 kids or 7.6 million children - are lacking in vitamin D. Low vitamin D is dangerous, however vitamin D deficiency is a serious health threat in which the body begins to reabsorb calcium from the skeleton.

The study reveled that vitamin D deficiency was seen more in older children as well as female, African-American, Mexican-American, obese kids, and in those who drank milk less often than once a week.

The body turns sunlight into vitamin D. The researchers in part blamed the low vitamin D levels on children using sunscreen when they do go outdoors. The discovered that kids who spent more time indoors watching TV, playing video games and using computers were more likely to have low levels of vitamin D.

Milk is one of the primary sources of vitamin D for most kids, and it has been a growing trend for kids to not drink milk each day. Another risk factor for low vitamin D levels was reported to be at least 3 to 4 hours of television and computer use each day, which many parents know their kids get.

There is now a committee at the Institute of Medicine that is meeting to specify whether the suggested daily intake of vitamin D should be increased.

一项最新研究表明，约70%的美国儿童维他命D缺乏。维他命D缺乏提高了骨病和心脏病的发病危险。

"尽管我们预计到了维他命D缺乏普遍存在，但是该病的全国统计数字还是令人震惊的，"此项研究的主要撰笔人库玛 医生表示。

几乎十分之一的儿童即七百六十万儿童体内缺少维他命D.而体内维他命D含量过低是很危险的，会严重威胁身体健康，导致身体重新吸收骨骼里的钙成分。

该研究透露，维他命D缺乏更常见于十多岁的儿童、女性、非裔美国人、墨裔美国人、肥胖儿童以及喝牛奶频率少于每周一次的人身上。

身体将太阳光转化为维生素D.研究人员认为儿童体内维他命D含量过低部分原因是由儿童外出时使用防晒用品导致的。研究发现，那些把更多时间用于在室内看电视、打电玩、玩电脑的儿童更容易患有维他命D缺乏。

对于大多数儿童而言，牛奶是维他命D的主要来源，现在不喝牛奶的孩子日趋增多。据报道，维他命D含量过低的另外一个原因是儿童每天看电视、玩电脑的时间至少在三至四个小时，这还是在父母知道的情况下。

现在医学委员会委员正在开会研究是否应该建议提高每日的维生素D摄入量。