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While vitamin D is found in some common foods, kids (not to mention their parents) don't eat them in sufficient amounts. Currently, most children get their vitamin D from fortified milk or orange juice; under the AAP's new guidelines, kids would have to drink at least four glasses a day. Vitamin D is also found in cod liver oil and fatty fish such as salmon or mackerel - not terribly popular with most youngsters. And while the best way to spur vitamin D production in the body is exposure to sunlight - typically about 10 or 15 minutes...
...American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says it will double its recommended minimum intake of vitamin D for infants, children and teens, from 200 international units...
Making decisions about your health is never easy, and things get even harder when the choices involve children. That's why the latest recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to widen cholesterol-testing to include kids as young as 2 is shaking up doctors and parents alike. The academy is also urging doctors to consider treating young patients from families with a history of abnormally high cholesterol levels - a major contributor to heart disease - with medications known as statins...
...While the guidelines target kids with a genetic risk of abnormally high cholesterol, called hyperlipidemia, they could lower the bar for prescriptions - not just for these children but for any overweight youngster whose cholesterol is not in check. Within hours of the AAP announcement on July 7, parents took to the blogs, expressing shock and unease over the aggressiveness of the guidelines. Statins are not without risks; in adults, in rare cases, they can cause muscle weakness and kidney problems, and there are limited data on how statins affect children...
...Amid the uproar, the AAP is firmly defending the guidelines. "We think there will be more benefit than risk," says Dr. Nicolas Stettler, a committee member from Children's Hospital Philadelphia. Part of that risk could be a shift toward the quick-fix prescription and away from prevention programs involving diet and exercise to address obesity and surging cholesterol levels. Most pediatricians are wary of moving too quickly to medicate children, especially when the potential side effects are unknown. But it's certainly easier to scribble a prescription than it is to get young patients to eat better and exercise...