Thursday October 16, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study published on Oct 10, 2008 in Acta diabetologica suggests that vitamin D deficiency may raise risk of type 1 diabetes in children.

The study showed that children with type 1 diabetes were more likely to have deficiency of vitamin D than healthy children, 91 percent in diabetic children versus 85 percent in non-diabetic children.

For the study, Bener A and colleagues from Weill Cornell Medical College Qatar compared 170 type 1 diabetes children and 170 healthy children ages younger than 17 years in Qatar for their vitamin D levels in the blood.

Bener A and colleagues also found that the dietetic children had overall lower levels of vitamin D than the healthy children.

They concluded that "Vitamin D intake was very poor in children and it shows that supplementing infants with vitamin D might be a safe and effective strategy for reducing the risk of T1DM."

The American Academy of Pediatrics in the United States updated its recommendation on Monday and now says that children need to have intake of 400 IUs of vitamin D per day compared to 200 IUs per day.   Vitamin D experts say enough 400 IUs per day may not be enough.

In the United States, an estimated 12 percent of the youngest children are deficient of vitamin D and another 28 percent are at the risk of deficiency, according to Dr. Catherine Gordon, director of the bone health program at Children's Hospital in Boston.

Vitamin D is found in a limited number of foods including oily fish such as salmon, fortified foods such as juices, cereals and milk and vitamin D supplements.   The best source of vitamin D is sunshine.    Daily exposure of hands and the face to sunshine for 15 minutes is believed to be enough.