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Svoren recommended that these patients take a multivitamin and at least 400 IU of vitamin D daily.

Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, said that vitamin D is important for all children.

"A growing body of research suggests the importance of vitamin D in many aspects of health, far beyond the long-established role in bone development and preservation," Katz said. "But the role of vitamin D in bone health remains crucial, and perhaps that much more so in groups at high risk of bone-thinning and injury. Such groups include postmenopausal women, those with kidney disease, and children with type 1 diabetes."

Whether or not supplementing vitamin D would prevent all diabetes-related bone disease in diabetic children, the practice makes sense, particularly in light of a recent American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation doubling the intake of vitamin D for all children, Katz said.

"All children should get ample vitamin D, at least 400 IU daily, from some combination of sun exposure, dairy products, and/or supplements," Katz said. "Those at high risk of deficiency, but not all children, should have levels monitored."

More information

For more on type 1 diabetes, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

SOURCES: Britta Svoren, M.D., instructor, pediatrics, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston; David L. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., director, Prevention Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.; January 2009, The Journal of Pediatrics '/>"/>