Health care professionals, medical researchers and politicians called for a concerted effort to tackle the growing problem of vitamin D deficiency at a special event held by the HFMA at the House of Commons yesterday (September 4).
Expert speakers told the Vitamin D for a Healthy Nation event that vitamin D deficiency affected 50% of adults in Britain. They said widespread deficiency of the vitamin – vital for skeletal and bone health – didn’t just compromise the bone health for millions of Britons, it was also linked to other major diseases such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, TB and certain types of cancer.
Kate Green MP, the shadow spokesperson for equalities, said: “There is no reason that in the 21st Century we should be seeing the return of diseases like rickets. It really is unacceptable – we should all be working hard to stamp it out”.
She said that that many of her constituents were in at risk groups for vitamin D deficiency. “We have a large afro-Caribbean community and people with darker skin aren’t able to make as much vitamin D through sun exposure. We have a sizeable Muslim community too, where there is a culture of covering up.”
Green said she had become “absolutely persuaded of the importance of supplementation for the at risk groups”. She added emphatically: “We need to get the message out that this type of supplementation isn’t some kind of gimmick, and it isn’t a case of saying ‘it’s all right, you’ll get everything you need from your diet’. Quite clearly, this is the type of vitamin supplementation that at risk groups need to take to ensure that they and their families and children can live healthily.
“We need to get the message out that this type of supplementation isn’t some kind of gimmick, and it isn’t a case of saying ‘it’s all right, you’ll get everything you need from your diet’. Quite clearly, this is the type of vitamin supplementation that at risk groups need to take to ensure that they and their families and children can live healthily”
Specialist medical researcher, Dr Rosemary Bland, expanded on vitamin D’s value in reducing the risk of serious diseases. “You might ask why vitamin D is so important for several diseases unrelated to bone health – MS, TB and certain cancers among them The common link is the immune system. It seems that vitamin D has an important role in creating a mechanism that the body uses in its defences against these diseases.”
She said it was important that the message about vitamin D deficiency reached health professionals at every level. But the first challenge was to agree what level of vitamin D was needed, and how it could be achieved. “And we need an easy way to deliver optimum levels. The difficulty with sun exposure, which is the most important way that we make vitamin D naturally in the body, is that it is difficult to quantify and measure. Ten minutes of sunshine in August will have a very different effect to 10 minutes of sun in February. It will vary geographically too, and with different types. Supplements are the most reliable way of delivering measured amounts, but we do also need to take into account intake from fortified food, sun exposure and skin type.”
The new HFMA chair, Lynn Lord, said that the trade association was pleased to be highlighting the issue of vitamin D deficiency nationally, and “happy to be discussing with the Department of Health ways in which vitamin D information initiatives can be implemented”. But she also warned that EU legislation on food supplements threatened the future of consumer access to safe, higher dose vitamin supplements – including vitamin D – that were needed to maintain health. Separate legislation, she said, was reducing the amount of information available to consumers, making it more difficult for them to make informed decisions about their health. She said: “We need MPs and Peers from across all parties to understand the threat to our industry.”
Earlier, the Conservative MP, David Tredinnick, had congratulated the HFMA for its “unswerving efforts to try to stop the EU imposing unnecessary restrictions on levels of vitamins and minerals”. He added: Their many successes over the years are a great tribute to them.”
Tredinnick, chair of the Parliamentary Group on Integrated Health, also touched briefly on concerns that plans to create a Register of Herbal Practitioners might be shelved by the Government. He said: “My understanding is that the issue of regulation of herbal practitioners is not on the back boiler. The Government is looking at this and it will be dealt with. It’s taking time because it’s a very complicated issue.”
Main picture: Kate Green MP. Lower: David Tredinnick MP, Lynn Lord, Kate Green MP, Dr Dr Rosemary Bland, Graham Keen
