vitamin D question

[Gotte]

I read that it is suggested, in the US, at any rate, to supplement children with vitamin D up to 400 IU per day.

www.scienceblog.com/cms/millions-us-children-low-vitamin-d-23637.html

Anyone read anything contrary to this.

Also, I'm keen to get my daughters to get all the vitamin D they need from the sun, but we live in Manchester - fat chance, of that, then.
I always understood that you need sunshine for vitamin D conversion, not just daylight. Is this true?

Many thanks

[AMumInScotland]

I've seen a few things recently which suggest that people in the UK, particularly Scotland, can't get enough Vitamin D from sunlight no matter how much time they are out in it, simply because the angle of the sun means we don't get the right "sort" of sunlight. And there are suggestions that this is implicated in the high rates of Multiple Sclerosis and possibly other illnesses which are more prevalent in Northern countries.

I don't recall what level of vitamin D those reports suggested would be needed to protect against them, but I do remember they said that there are not any worries about supplementing with vit D because it does not do harm (unless you get to silly amounts presumably!).

I don't know how the 400 compares with the current recommended levels though, you'd need to see how that compares.

But I've certainly made sure we're all getting the current RDA to do what I can to counteract the lack of it from sunlight.

[Gotte]

Many thanks. I'll do a bit more digging.