Article: Rickets, soft bones on the rise in kids

[brittone2]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313061,00.html

[fivi2]

Interesting article. But I am confused - I swear I have read recently about the rise in iron deficiency in kids due to drinking too much milk and everything being fortified with calcium... Of course I can't find a cite and may be wrong, but this is all very confusing!
Thanks for the info!

[maestramommy]

I heard that from my ped also, but he was talking about toddlers who drink too much milk instead of eating. If you're overloading your system with calcium, it can inhibit your body's absorption of iron, and if you're not eating a good diet, you're probably not getting enough iron to begin with.

I do remember reading recently about osteoporosis (sp?) in children, another alarming trend. That article pointed to high consumption of soda, and not enough milk, dairy, or calcium rich foods. I believe the caffeine in soda inhibits your body's absorption of calcium. But I *think* lack of physical activity was also mentioned.

Bottom line: decrease or cut out soda intake, feed your kids a varied diet, make sure they get enough *exercise*.

[brittone2]

I'm with you on the dairy. I'm not entirely convinced dairy calcium works all that well, personally.

I do follow the research on vit. D and we do cod liver oil to up our consumption. From what I've read, a lot of people are likely quite deficient in it these days for a multitude of reasons.