The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends doubling the dose of vitamin D for children to 400 International Units per day (the old recommendation was for 200 International Units per day). Vitamin D is important for healthy bone formation. Children who are deficient in vitamin D can develop rickets, a bone-softening which is a disease that results in malformed bones. Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular and other diseases in adults.
Most children will need supplements to reach this level because there really aren't many foods high in vitamin D except for milk that has had vitamin D added, and it would take four 8-ounce glasses of milk every day to get that much vitamin D. Breast-fed infants are especially at risk because breast-milk is a poor source of vitamin D.
So why don't many foods contain this important vitamin? Because your body makes vitamin D after your skin has been exposed to the sun. Since there are concerns about getting skin cancer from too much sun exposures, many people avoid the sun completely, which leaves them deficient.
Photo © Chris Chidsey
Eggs were taken off of many people's diet food lists because they contain a lot of cholesterol. That's unfortunate, because eggs also contain lots of important nutrients. Actually, there are plenty of studies showing that eating one egg each day will not raise your cholesterol or lower your HDL, so almost everyone can enjoy eggs as part of a healthy diet. 