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Dr Fabienne Kochert (Paediatrician)
Vitamin D is essential for the good health of children. But the recommended intake is now unique: from 400 to 800 IU per day for 0-18 year olds, regardless of age, except in special cases.
Essential for the proper functioning of our bones, our muscles and our immune system, vitamin D is particularly important in children. And this, from birth to prevent the risk of rickets. Vitamin D intake is therefore generally recommended to support the needs of children and their overall good health.
The same recommended dose from 0 to 18 years old
If the benefits of vitamin D are not debatable, its dosage, on the other hand, has been smoothed out. Indeed, the old recommendations recommended a vitamin D intake varying according to the age of the child.
Today, the recommended vitamin D (D2 and D3) intakes are 400 to 800 IU per day, from 0 to 18 years old. The explanations of the pediatrician Fabienne Kochert, president of the French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics (AFPA): “The administration of vitamin D has been redesigned, because there was confusion which suggested that it was necessary to avoid at all costs a deficiency of vitamin D in children, and led to the taking of unnecessary and even dangerous supplements. However, vitamin D is mainly given to prevent rickets. The dose now recommended is sufficient to avoid this risk.”. In fact, France is now aligned with European recommendations.
NO to diets, YES to WW!
Vitamin D: on medical prescription only
French pediatricians also point out that taking vitamin D is subject to medical prescription. An overdose of vitamin D is indeed harmful in children, especially in infants: it can lead to serious consequences, such as hypercalcemia (an excessively high level of calcium in the blood) which can lead to hospitalization or even death.
“It is important to remember that vitamin D remains a drug, the dose of which must be respected, and not a food supplement. When you buy a self-service product at the pharmacy or on the internet, you unfortunately do not know the components or the vitamin D dosage.”, insists Dr. Fabienne Kochert.
Reminder: there are risk factors for deficiency, which are pigmented skin, little exposure to the sun, obesity and veganism. In all these situations, the doses will be reassessed, in consultation with the pediatrician or the attending physician. In short, in all cases, no self-medication.
Slide: Which Foods Are Highest in Vitamin D?