Jesus is the living bread from heaven that brings abundant life, we learn in this Sunday's gospel. American kids, on the other hand, are not getting enough vitamin D in their diets or lifestyles to ensure abundant health. Two new surveys reveal a whopping 70 percent of them suffer from vitamin D deficiency. "This is a recipe for serious diseases occurring in our children when they are in their 20s and 30s," said Dr. Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., author of a forthcoming book on the benefits of vitamin D.

Youngsters with a deficiency of vitamin D tend to have higher blood pressure and lower levels of good cholesterol than their peers, according to the studies published this week in the journal Pediatrics. Low vitamin D levels may also increase a child's risk of developing heart disease later in life, experts said.

"We were astounded at how common it was," said study author Dr. Michal Melamed, assistant professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. "If kids start out with low levels and never increase them, they may be putting themselves at risk for developing all of these diseases at a much earlier age."

Vitamin D is often called the "sunshine vitamin" because the human body makes it only when exposed to sunlight, although it only takes 10 to 15 minutes a day to make an adequate amount. The vitamin, which helps bones better absorb calcium, is also added to multivitamins and milk.

Source: An article by Denise Mann for Health Magazine