UVB added in classroom reduced cavities, increased height, increased academics. etc

Effects of school lighting on physical development and performance

Highlights of fascinating 1995 study

• 1 year Experiment in Canada, 12 year old children
• 4 different kinds of overhead lighting – including 2 which had a small amount of UVB
• The UVB added per child for the entire day was = 10 minutes of noontime summer sun at that latitude
• Results for UVB vs other groups:
  1 / 5 the # of cavities
  better attendance
  grew taller
  gained more weight (a good thing at that point in life)
  lowest increase in body fat
  had better test scores at the end of the year

 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

The academic publication has far less detail
Hathaway WE. Effects of School Lighting on Physical Development and School Performance.
The Journal of Educational Research Vol. 88, No. 4, Mar. – Apr., 1995

Here is a summary table from the PDF

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Comment by VitaminDWiki

This was not a random controlled trial, but fascinating anyway
Expect that UVB can be added safely to office/classroom at very low cost
Need to calculate how much equivalent vitamin D this UVB produces - suspect it is in the range of 200-500 IU per child
Hardly any "full spectrum" bulbs emit UVB
Daylighting does not contain UVB - it works on getting full VISIBLE spectrum without 120Hz oscillations

See also VitaminDWiki

• Vitamin D from low cost UVB lamps
  Adding a few of these lamps to existing classroom or office lighting might do the job for < $500.
• Dental caries cut in half by vitamin D, review of 24 old clinical trials – Nov 2012
• All items in category Dental and Vitamin D 116 items
• All items in category UV and vitamin D 381 items
• Hypothesis: Periodontal disease is related to vitamin D – 2010 Dr. Grant
• Vitamin D history back to Egyptians and fortification - Aug 2011
  Herodotus noticed Egyptians with bare heads had much stronger skulls than Persians
• More sunshine: more teeth (1862), fewer cavities (1934) – Oct 2011
• Top UK soccer coach installed vitamin D booths in his club – Dec 2012
• Interview concerning UVA, UVB, and health – Grant Dec 2012
• Vitamin D from phototherapy lamps, tanning beds, and the sun – Jan 2012
• UK Day-Cares being offered grants to develop vitamin D methods – July 2012
• Vitamin D from UV LEDs – US patent application – Oct 2019

Intervention AND Dental

Newer research

150 citations of this study as of Dec 2023

• Effects of Full-Spectrum Lighting on Use of Classroom Library Center by Preschool Children: 1995? 2000? Oklahoma Thesis: attached at bottom of this page
• A Literature Review of the Effects of Natural Light on Building Occupants NREL 2002: attached at bottom of this page
• Children of Elementary School Age – A Case of Daylight Robbery by Hathaway in 2009
  Includes nice executive summary - by Warren E. Hathaway, John A. Hargreaves, Gordon W. Thompson, Dennis Novitsky
• Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting: a review of its effects on physiology and health Review in Canada 2001 attached at bottom of this page
• Daylighting in Schools: Improving Student Performance and Health at a Price Schools Can Afford. - 2000, FREE PDF

Short url for this page = http://is.gd/uvb_room