Malnutrition has health consequences – especially for babies and children. This is why a disease from the Victorian era is increasingly breaking out again in Scotland.
Glasgow – An almost eradicated disease is back in Europe: health authorities in Great Britain recorded 442 cases of the bone disease rickets last year – around 20 percent more than in 2018. The last time the childhood disease became more common was in the 19th century. The reasons for the illness can be easily avoided.
Long-term vitamin D deficiency causes soft bones and knock knees in children
If children or babies don’t get enough vitamin D over a long period of time, rickets can result, explains the World Health Organization (WHO) explains the background to the disease. Too little sunlight or malnutrition are the cause of the undersupply. If there is a severe vitamin D deficiency, the body cannot store bone-strengthening calcium and phosphate, which causes the bones to become soft. A visible symptom is knock-knees or bow-legs, which can cause difficulty walking.
Then as now: Malnutrition in poor neighborhoods makes children susceptible to rickets
In the 19th century, rickets was widespread due to malnutrition, especially in the slums of Great Britain. This connection apparently still exists today: more than three quarters of the new cases in 2022 occurred in the region around the city of Glasgow, as the AFP news agency reported. The region is one of the poorest in Scotland, with almost a third of children living in poverty, according to local authorities’ estimates.
Other so-called Victorian diseases such as tuberculosis and scarlet fever have also recently increased significantly in Scotland. “Rachitis is associated with poor diet, and the likelihood of poor diet may be driven by the cost of living,” confirmed Stephen Baker, a molecular microbiologist at the University of Cambridge, who Sunday Times. “Victorian diseases are diseases of poverty,” Baker continued.
Prevent vitamin D deficiency: Doctors recommend nutritional supplements for babies
In Germany, doctors recommend rickets prophylaxis, according to the magazine published by the German Medical Association Medical Journal an additional vitamin D intake via dietary supplements. However, the dosage should be followed closely as long-term overdose can be potentially life-threatening for infants, reports the Medical Journal. Vitamin D is found in foods such as fish or eggs.