Make sure your children are getting at least 400 IU of vitamin D a day; breastfed babies and kids not getting enough should receive vitamin D supplements.

D-linquent? Lots of kids, and their parents, don't get enough vitamin D from the sun or from food.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is doubling its recommended daily dose of Vitamin D for infants, children, and adolescents.

The new guidelines, announced at the 2008 national conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics in Boston, suggest that children should get 400 IU of the vitamin, not 200 IU, the standard that’s been in place since 2003. Because they don’t get the vitamin through fortified formula and milk products, breastfed or partially breastfed infants should begin receiving supplemental vitamin D when they are just a few days old.

Researchers believe the new suggested level of vitamin D will prevent cases of childhood rickets (a bone-softening disease) and osteoporosis later in life. And the vitamin may provide other benefits, too. There’s evidence that vitamin D may ward off autoimmune diseases, diabetes, and cancer.

THE DETAILS: After reviewing clinical trials, safety data, and data on the time today’s kids spend indoors and out of the sun (sunlight helps the body make vitamin D), the AAP decided to bump up the recommended dosage. It’s long been known that vitamin D helps your body break down calcium, but newer studies suggest the vitamin may be something of a miracle worker, with the power to slash the risk of developing breast, colon, and esophageal cancers by 30 to 50%. “We are doubling the recommended amount of vitamin D children need each day because evidence has shown this could have lifelong health benefits,” says Frank Greer, MD, fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and lead author of the report.

WHAT IT MEANS: Our bodies produce vitamin D naturally when sunlight of sufficient strength hits our skin. In optimal conditions, just a few minutes in the sun can produce upwards of 4,000 IU. But many people take precautions against sun exposure, since it raises the risk of skin cancer and causes wrinkles. Other factors, such as skin pigmentation, air pollution, weather, and latitude can make it tricky to get a perfect daily dose of D from the sun. Since it’s hard to get enough of the vitamin from food sources, supplementation is an effective way to give your body the vitamin D it may not be getting from sunlight.

Here’s what you need to know to give yourself and your family a healthy dose of D: