AUG 26, 2009 — A leading medical news source has chastised the American Academy of Dermatology directly for advice the group says is contributing to skyrocketing vitamin D deficiency in the United States today.

“Telling people to get their vitamin D from just food and supplements obviously does not work,” Medical News today reported in a story published Aug. 24. “People have been told that for the last twenty years and vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency has increased significantly.”

According to the Medical News Today story, “For decades we have been told to stay out of the sun, to wear hats and cover ourselves with sun block to protect against skin cancer – and also significantly reducing our levels of vitamin D. Add to that a growingly sedentary lifestyle where we and our children spend more time indoors either watching TV or in front of a computer monitor, and it is not surprising that millions of people have excessively low levels of vitamin D in our system. Then we are told that sunlight can rapidly make up for any vitamin D shortfall, while at the same time the American Academy of Dermatology continues to recommend that the public obtain vitamin D from nutritional sources and dietary supplements, and not from unprotected exposure to ultraviolet radiation because of the skin cancer risk, and we despair.”

Although the report acknowledges that dermatologists feel they are justified because of their daily exposure to skin cancer cases, “However, millions of people are and will develop other very serious diseases because their vitamin D levels are too low. Skin cancer is one factor, but there are many other factors.”

The report is the second in a month from a major organization slamming a dermatology industry group for being myopic when it comes to UV light. British doctors last month questioned the Skin Cancer Foundation for its role in encouraging behavior that leads to vitamin D deficiency.

To read the Medical News Today story click here.