CNRC expert 'D'-mystifies cause of nutritional rickets News that rickets is making a comeback has caused considerable concern for many parents. Infants and children require 200 IU of vitamin D each day for proper bone development. Infant formulas are fortified with the necessary amount of vitamin D, but human milk contains relatively little. As a result, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends supplemental vitamin D drops for breastfed babies who might be at risk for rickets. Vitamin D supplementation is usually achieved by providing infants with a multi-vitamin drop that contains the vitamin.
Some experts also advocate routine vitamin D supplementation for all breastfed babies.
To check for vitamin D in foods, inspect food labels. Her research, part of an on-going project at Penn State University, was published in the November 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Children of restrictive parents may come to perceive restricted foods as highly desirable, but also associate eating them with parental disapproval. This could increase their tendency to practice self-restriction as adults. To measure parental restriction, Fisher determined the extent to which each child was typically given access to the 10 snack foods used in the study.