Rickets at 80 year high in Southampton children

High numbers of youngsters across the city are being diagnosed with the poverty-linked bone disease, which was endemic in Victorian England.

The comeback has shocked the city’s top doctors, who have seen more than 40 youngsters from all backgrounds suffering with the condition in the last 12 months.

Professor Nicholas Clarke, from Southampton General Hospital, is warning parents to be aware of the dangers and take action before cases of the disease start to soar.

He and his colleague Dr Justin Davies, a consultant paediatric endrocinologist, has checked more than 200 children for bone problems and more than 20 per cent of them had significant deficiencies.

Rickets is a condition that causes children’s bones to become weak and bowed and is caused by low levels of vitamin D.

It was rife within Victorian communities but was written off by many orthopaedic surgeons by 1928, following the discovery of vitamin D six years earlier.

However, due to poor diet and a lack of exposure to sunlight, the disease has slowly made a return around the world, including in northern parts of the UK earlier this year.

But up until now experts had never believed the condition, historically linked to poverty-stricken communities, would make a return to a city like Southampton, which boasts high income, middleclass families and leafy surroundings.

Professor Clarke, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Southampton General Hospital and professor of paediatric orthopaedic surgery at the University of Southampton, believes vitamin D supplements should be taken by more children to stop the rise.

He said: “The return of rickets in northern parts of the UK came as a surprise despite the colder climate and lower levels of sunshine in the north, but what has developed in Southampton is quite astonishing. In my 22 years at Southampton General Hospital, this is a completely new occurrence in the south that has evolved over the last 12 to 24 months.

“We are seeing cases across the board, from areas of deprivation up to the middle classes, so there is a real need to get national attention focused on the dangers this presents.

“A lot of the children we’ve seen have low vitamin D and require treatment.

This is almost certainly a combination of the modern lifestyle, which involves a lack of exposure to sunlight, but also covering up in sunshine, and we’re seeing cases that are very reminiscent of 17th century England.

“We are facing the daunting prospect of an area like Southampton seeing increasing numbers of children with rickets, which would have been inconceivable only a year or so ago.”

Rickets factfile

■ Rickets is triggered by a lack of vitamin D, caused by a poor diet and a lack of sun exposure.

■ It can cause sore joints, skeletal deformities, such as curvature of the spine, fragile bones, poor growth and dental problems.

■ Food rich in vitamin D include salmon, tuna, egg yolks, cheese and beef liver, as well as vitamin D-fortified milk.

■ Sunshine is the most natural way to get vitamin D and you can combine it with exercise for a great bone building combo.

■ Around 15 to 20 minutes of sunlight three times a week will usually produce enough vitamin D for the body.

■ A special brace or surgery may be needed to correct any bone deformities caused by the disease, such as bowed legs and curvature of the spine.