£ 5,000 funding for nursery staff who run Vitamin D projects: Date of article: 25-Jul-12

Article by: Sue Learner, News Editor

Nursery staff who run projects that support vitamin supplements and the promotion of vitamin D intake in children under five, could be eligible for £5,000 grants.

The Feeding for Life Foundation (FfLF) has launched a Promoting Best Practice Grant Scheme to provide a total of £20,000 worth of funding for grass roots projects.

The issue of vitamin D deficiency has been placed back on the public health agenda as a result of the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), which found toddlers are only achieving an average of 27 per cent of the recommended dietary intake of vitamin D from food sources.

The recent FfLF 'Mind the Gap' report found 51 per cent of health care professionals and 74 per cent of parents surveyed were unaware of the Department of Health recommendations that all pregnant and breastfeeding women and children aged six months to five years should take a vitamin D supplement.

In response to the growing concern over poor vitamin D intake, the UK’s chief medical officers wrote to health care professionals to remind them of the importance of vitamin D supplementation and to highlight the groups most at risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Pinki Sahota, professor of nutrition and obesity at Leeds Metropolitan University and chair of the FfLF, said: "The issue of vitamin D deficiency is becoming an increasing problem in the UK.

"This scheme aims to help health care professionals and early years professionals tackle this issue and share best practice, by funding initiatives that raise awareness of the importance of vitamin D supplementation amongst parents of young children."

You can find out further information on the Promoting Best Practice Grant Scheme on the Feeding for Life Foundation website.

Closing dates for 2012 applications are Friday 14th September and Monday 31st December.
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Nice to see some improvement in the UK vitamin D levels

See also VitaminDWiki

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• UK pediatricians have a lot to learn about vitamin D – May 2012 which has the following
  Identify additional groups of children who are also at high risk, not just dark skin (e.g. excess fat)
  Test for a rare allergic reaction to vitamin D before giving high doses.
  Dose size should increase with the number of high risk categories a child is in
  Also provide some cofactors, not just vitamin D
  Followup with maintenance doses after the loading dose.
• Scotland and Vitamin D
• UVB added in classroom reduced cavities, increased height, increased academics. etc probably great in day care as well
  perhaps less than $1,000 installed UVB to reduce infections, colds, etc.
  Providing UVB to all is probably much easier than trying to give vitamin D to young children