They said vitamin D is vital for bone and muscle health, but that people were generally not getting enough from sunlight during the winter months.
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Public Health England’s advice comes as the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition published a report suggesting everyone over the age of 1 needs to consume 10 micrograms of vitamin D each day.
Vitamin D is essential for the absorption of calcium – which is vital to maintaining healthy bones and teeth.
“The Chief Medical Officer has confirmed that we should accept and implement the SACN’s recommendations”.
SACN was not able to recommend how much sunlight exposure people would need in order to achieve satisfactory vitamin D blood levels because there are a number of factors that can affect how much vitamin D is synthesised in the skin.
If you live in the United Kingdom, you should probably start taking vitamin D supplements.
Children aged one to four years should also have a daily 10 microgram vitamin D supplement, they said. For example, if they are frail, housebound, are in care homes, or wear clothes that cover most of their skin while outdoors for religious or other reasons.
It found credible evidence that consumption of enough vitamin D does reduce the risk of rickets in children, also known as brittle bone disease, and a condition in adults called osteomalacia in adults, which can cause bones to soften, weaken and become deformed.
In children, a lack of vitamin D can lead to the bone disease rickets.
Babies who are formula fed and drink at least 500ml of formula a day are already getting enough vitamin D from formula.
PHE advised people who have little or no exposure to the sun, as well as ethnic minority groups with dark skin (from African, Afro-Caribbean and South Asian backgrounds) to consider taking a supplement all year round.
Where does vitamin D come from?
Powers, a human nutrition expert in the department of oncology and metabolism at Sheffield university, said: “There are very few foods that contain a good source of vitamin D so it is very important to ensure we include a variety of oily fish (such as tuna, salmon and sardines), eggs and certain fortified breakfast cereals in our diets”. Limited amounts of the vitamin are found in foods such as oily fish, eggs and fortified cereals.
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Alpro also add vitamin D to their plant-based milks.
