For many years, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with long winters and places where families spend months without sunshine. So, how is it that children growing up in sunny places like Nairobi are increasingly being diagnosed with low vitamin D levels?
According to Consultant Paediatrician Dr Varsha Vekaria-Hirani, the assumption that sunny regions are automatically protected is misleading. A worrying rise in deficiency cases among Kenyan children is now driving urgent conversations around lifestyle, nutrition and outdoor play.
Globally, vitamin D deficiency is rising particularly among children and adolescents. Locally, a study from a Nairobi hospital found that 12 percent of children had vitamin D deficiency, while 11 percent had insufficiency.