“Sunshine vitamin†helps expectant mothers have stronger-boned babies
Researchers at Bristol University have found that expectant mothers having sufficient dose of the so-called “sunshine vitamin” more often than not have stronger-boned babies, as compared to others.
A well-researched study, spreading over a span of 18 years, reveal summer pregnancy helps women take adequate benefit of the vitamin-boosting rays of the sun. Even a little sun, in the form of walking outside or sunbathing, boosts the vitamin D levels of expectant mothers, thereby building stronger bones of the babies in the womb.
Researchers, who considered the probable sun exposure of 7,000 pregnant women during the last three months of pregnancy, found that by the age of ten, children born in the late summer and early autumn are roughly half a centimeter taller and have stronger bones than those born in winter and spring. They also have nearly five inches of extra bone area because of increases in bone width.
As per the recommendation of the researchers, women pregnant during winter need to take vitamin supplements to compensate for the lack of the “sunshine vitamin.” According to the Food Standards Agency, ten micrograms of vitamin D is the advised dose during the pregnancy months.
Researcher Professor Jon Tobias, highlighting the “sunshine vitamin” factor said: “Wider bones are thought to be stronger and less prone to breaking as a result of osteoporosis in later life, so anything that affects early bone development is significant.”
