Children who take Vitamin D are less likely to develop diabetes, a new report states.

Giving children Vitamin D could reduce the chance of them developing diabetes in later life, according to research.

The findings, published today, in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood show that children taking the vitamin supplement are 29% less likely to develop Type 1 diabetes.

Protection was found to be even higher when children are given higher doses of Vitamin D and the supplements are taken more regularly.

The review, which took into account more than 6,000 cases, also suggests that the younger children are when they start taking Vitamin D, the less the likelihood of them developing the disease in later life.

Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the body does not produce enough insulin, or cannot make proper use of the insulin it does produce. Sufferers develop either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 is less common and usually develops before the age of 40, whilst Type 2 is far more prevalent and is linked mainly with an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle.

Diabetes is most common amongst those of European descent and affects around two million Europeans and North Americans worldwide. In the UK, over 2.3 million people suffer from the disease and many more are living with it undetected.

Its prevalence is becoming more widespread and according to Dr Christos Zipitis, from St Mary’s Hospital for Women and Children in Manchester, who led the study, “by 2010 the incidence of Type 1 diabetes will be 40 per cent higher than it was a decade earlier.”

For more information on the report, visit the Archives of Disease in Childhood journal website:  http://adc.bmj.com

By Natasha Piscitelli