UKs CMO recommends free vitamins for all kids as rickets rears its head

England’s Chief Medical Officer is calling for all children to be offered vitamin supplements to safeguard their health amidst a return of the Victorian-era disease rickets. In her annual report on the state of children’s health in the UK released this week, Professor Dame Sally Davies sets out a range of recommendations to tackle urgent problems such as rising child obesity rates, a lack of effective mental health services for children and growing rates of vitamin deficiency. “This report questions whether we have got the balance right in our society and should act as a wake-up call. The evidence is crystal clear and the opportunity is huge – investing in children is a certain way of improving the economic health of our nation, as well as our children’s well-being,” she says in a media statement.