Nursery World - A Unique Child Health: Sun up!

Practitioners can help parents prevent the resurgence in rickets with some important advice, says Ruth Thomson.

Recent years have seen a sharp increase in the incidence of tuberculosis, but now another 'Victorian' disease is on the rise. Rickets, caused by vitamin D deficiency, is staging a comeback, prompting the Government to recommend that pregnant or breastfeeding women boost their vitamin D intake in the darker winter months.

What is rickets?

Rickets is a bone disease that can lead to bone deformities, stunted growth and general ill-health. Symptoms in children include:

- tender swollen joints
- bone pain and tenderness
- muscle weakness and pain
- breathing difficulties
- bow legs or knock knees
- delayed walking or waddling gait
- delayed closure of the fontanelle (soft spot on a baby's head)
- delayed eruption of the teeth or weak tooth enamel.

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