Dull weather makes Scotland a black spot for vitamin D deficiency

Published on Tuesday 8 September 2009 22:05

INCREASINGLY cloudy Scottish summers could leave the country in the grip of a vitamin D crisis, scientists have warned.

Dr Elina Hyppnen of the Institute of Child Health in London warned Scotland was a black spot for vitamin D and that the situation would get worse as summers became cloudier.

Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones, and shortage has been linked with illnesses such as rickets and multiple sclerosis.

Speaking to The Scotsman following a talk at the British Science Festival in Surrey Dr Hyppnen said: "There is a two-fold difference between people living in Scotland and England in blood vitamin D levels."

Our main source of vitamin D is from biochemical processes that take place when sunlight strikes our skin. To manufacture vitamin D, humans must be exposed to short wavelength UV rays. However, in Scotland the sun only produces the right wavelengths between 10am and 3pm from May to October, when Scots have been advised to expose hands, face and arms for up to 15 minutes a day.

Exposure to the Scottish sun outside of these months does nothing for our vitamin D levels and the increasingly rainy summers predicted in the future could exacerbate the problem.