I was hoping we had weathered this silliness without a ripple here but I was
wrong.  My morning paper had an article 'Supplements are important' and a
large color photo of a baby asleep on a breast
http://www.dagsavisen.no/innenriks/2003/04/724669.shtml

I've already had an exchange of e-mails with the reporter who wrote the
article.  Among other gems were these:
(in headline) 'Infants who only get breastmilk must get Vitamin D
supplements to avoid the serious deficiency disease, rickets'
and a quote from a pediatrician at the largest hospital in Norway, probably
the only one she could get on a phone - '"Mother's milk contains far too
little Vitamin D to cover an infant's needs", he emphasizes.'
'While formula is generally fortified with Vitamin D, the otherwise so
complete breastmilk is thus lacking an important component.  Children who
don't eat fatty fish or other foods with Vitamin D are dependent on
supplements to avoid becoming ill.'

A survey of parents showed that 80% do give supplements as advised by our
state council on nutrition.  The reporter seems to have asked the
pediatrician about this, and he says 'Many parents give cod liver oil, but
they often give too little to get enough Vitamin D.  A survey also doesn't
give us any real information on the Vitamin D level in the children.  Many
parents say they give more than they actually do, he believes.'

There was a little box on the same page telling what Vitamin D (which is
referred to as 'D vitamins') is for in the body, and how we get it, and a
cautionary note that children should not get more than 50 micrograms/day.
The recommended amounts listed in the article were incorrect, in that it
stated adults should take 3 times what children should, when the official
recommendations are that everyone should take 10 micrograms daily, which is
what one gets in one tsp (5 ml) of the pharmaceutical grade cod liver oil.

The reporter was offended that I felt her presentation was a boon to the
formula industry, as that was not her intention.  She was concerned because
of the dire threat of rickets, since so many parents don't follow the
official vitamin recommendations.  (Going for walks out-of-doors here is a
virtue second to none and the only rickets we have seen are among
dark-skinned immigrants who don't go outside uncovered.)  I have asked what
made her suddenly get interested in this issue, since the state council took
it up with excellent media saturation about a year and a half ago, and I
have more than implied that she has swallowed an industry-planted 'story',
hook, line and sinker.

waiting for the next round,
Rachel in Norway

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