VITAMIN D SURVEY- ECA -PODAR

VITAMIN D AND SUNLIGHT/OUTDOOR PLAY RAPID SURVEY CONDUCTED BY EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION AND PODAR INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION- COPYRIGHT @ SWATIPOPATVATS

THIS REPORT IS COPYRIGHT AND REGISTERED PROPERTY OF EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION, ANYONE WISHING TO QUOTE, USE, OR REFER TO IT SHOULD DO SO ONLY AFTER SEEKING PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM MS SWATI POPAT VATS (PRESIDENT) ON ecaorg@yahoo.com or swatipopat@podar.net

Children have stopped playing in the sun. Children are moving from one air conditioned environment to another and infact do not like to play in the sun. Are we sanitizing and plasticizing our kid’s environment too much? Children are losing their bonds with nature and are infact being warned by parents about the harmful effects of nature- don’t play in the sun you will become dark, don’t go in the grass there are ants, stay away from the trees you will hurt yourself etc. nature has two important health benefits for kids

1.     Oxygen- is required by young children’s brains as oxygen helps blood flow smoothly to the brain and that helps the brain feel alert and focused.

2.     Sunlight- there is natural vitamin D in sunlight that helps our bodies’ process calcium. You may feed many health drinks to kids but the fact remains that more and more kids and adults are growing up with health issues like skin problems, breathing problems, hair fall and weak bones all because of lack of sunlight.

We had a discussion with parents to find out if parents make the right choices about kids play and outdoor environment based on facts or are they just too overprotective of kids. We interviewed around 700 parents each in Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Chennai, and Bangalore and the results from these combined 3500 parents was shocking. Many parents made incorrect choices for their kids, many stopped them from playing in the sun, many were unaware about the benefits of sunlight and many did not know which part of the day the sunlight was harmful or helpful for the child. We did this survey to create awareness in parents about the need to gift ‘nature therapy’ to kids to keep them healthy so that they will remain healthy and happy as adults.

It was evident that doctors and schools need to educate parents about vitamin D and B12 deficiency that is directly linked to the lack of sunlight in kids lives. Parents should also be educated about what time of the day the sun is harmful and helpful and why. Infact given below an advisory that the Early Childhood Association has released for parents for the summer, weekends and other holidays of children.

Q1. How many hours a day does your child play outside in the outdoors?

Sr. No.	30 mins	60 mins	90  mins	120 mins	180 mins	Not at all	No Response
No
%	43%	20%	12%	2%	2%	21%	Nil

        

Q2.At what time of the day do you send your child to play outdoors?

Sr. No.	Morning 8.00am-12.00pm	Afternoon 12.00-4.00pm	Evening 4.00pm-9.00pm	Don’t Go Out	Total
	20%	30%	35%	15%	3500
%

Q 3. Why does your child not play outside at all?( for the 15%)

Sr. No.	No space where we stay	No garden around	No time, child has classes	Child uncomfortable with heat and sweat	Prefers indoors	No one to go out and play	No Response
No
%	23%	22%	36%	12%	3%	4%	Nil

Q4.Are you aware of vitamin D deficiency in young children?

Sr. No.	Yes	No	No Response	Total
				3500
%	76.59%	16.5%	6.83%

Q5. Are you aware what causes it?

Sr. No.	Yes	No	Not sure	Total
				3500
%	72.18%	20.21%	7.59%

Q6.Please state the most important cause?

Sr. No.	Lack Of Sunlight	Others (Weak Bones, Immunity,  Calcium Deficiency)	Not sure	Total
				3500
%	47.87%	16.41%	35.71%

Q7.Do you think playing in the early morning sun is harmful for children?

Sr. No.	Yes	No	Not sure	Total
				3500
%	20 %	63%	17%

Q8. Why do you think it is harmful? (Out of the 20%)

Sr. No.	Due To sun Rays	Other (Skin is effected) will tan	Don’t know	Total
%	49%	41%	10%

Q 9.Why do you think it is not harmful? (Out of the 63%)

Sr. No.	Proper Growth	Good health	Natural Source of Vitamin D	Don’t know reason	Total
%	27%	23%	43%	7%

Q.10.Do you think playing in the afternoon sun is harmful for children?

Sr. No.	Yes	No	No response	Total
				3500
%	10%	88%	2%

Q. 11.Why do you think it is harmful? (Of the 10%)

Sr. No.	Due To sun Rays	Other (Skin is effected , Catch a Cold)	We were not allowed to play	Total
%	42%	45%	13%

Q 12.Why do you think it is not harmful? (88%)

Sr. No.	Proper Growth	Good health	Natural Source of Vitamin D	Everyone plays	Total
%	27%	14%	37%	22%

                                                             

Advisory to all Parents from Early Childhood Association- India

Sunlight is what helps plants create photosynthesis; sunlight is what helps humans thrive. But today many parents think that sunlight is harmful for their kids and keep kids indoors all the time. Yes, global warming has increased the incidence of harsh sunlight causing skin cancers etc. but there are benefits to sunlight too, so we appeal to parents to give their kids a healthy balance of ‘sunlight diet’ to their kids.

Lack of sunlight causes the deficiency of vitamin D in our children which in turn leads to calcium deficiency in their growing years as the processing of calcium in our bodies requires vitamin D. You can give children calcium supplements and milk but the natural vitamin D that kids receive from sunlight cannot be replaced with supplements etc. another deficiency is that of vitamin B12 again related to lack of sunlight. All these coupled with the side effects like brittle bones, depression, hair fall, skin allergies is endangering the health of our young children and youth.

It’s time to make it fashionable to let children play in the sun. the sunlight, fresh air and ‘sweat’ will in fact infuse a natural health glow and give your child the benefit of healthy bodies which will lead to healthy minds. So if you want smart kids, make a smart choice today and ensure that kids play in the sun for at least 20 minutes every day.

The early morning sunlight is the best for vitamin D, as the sunlight is harsher after 10 am so  try to avoid kids playing directly in the sun after 10am . It’s time to rise and shine with the sun and get your regular vitamin D, B12 dose directly from Dr Sun.

For more details contact your family doctor or pediatrician, and remember Google is not a doctor!

From the team at EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATON

Write to us on ecaorg@yahoo.com and join us on this initiative on www.eca-org.com