To: Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly
Free Vitamin D supplement for children under 4
The HSE instructs parents to spend €24, (on average) to give babies aged 0-12 months supplements of vitamin D3. This cost is unaffordable for many families yet essential to the health of their babies.
Why is this important?
Babies cannot safely get the vitamin D they need from the sun and they need vitamin D because:
-between 0 to 12 months babies grow very quickly and have a greater need for vitamin D to form strong bones.
-Research shows that vitamin D plays an important role in helping the immune system. It may help prevent diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, MS (multiple sclerosis) and some forms of cancer.
-African, Afro-Caribbean, Middle-Eastern or Indian parents are more likely to have babies with low levels of vitamin D.
-between 0 to 12 months babies grow very quickly and have a greater need for vitamin D to form strong bones.
-Research shows that vitamin D plays an important role in helping the immune system. It may help prevent diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, MS (multiple sclerosis) and some forms of cancer.
-African, Afro-Caribbean, Middle-Eastern or Indian parents are more likely to have babies with low levels of vitamin D.