Kumaravel Rajakumar ^1*, Susan L. Greenspan ², Stephen B. Thomas ³, Michael F. Holick ⁴

¹ Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
² Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
³ Center for Minority Health, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health
⁴ Department of Medicine, Physiology, and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kumaravel.rajakumar{at}chp.edu.

	Abstract

Rickets, the state of vitamin D deficiency, has reemerged as a potential problem in the United States. At the dawn of the 20th century, rickets was pervasive among infants residing in the polluted cities of Europe and the northeastern United States.

Important milestones in the history of rickets were the understanding that photosynthesized vitamin D and dietary vitamin D were similar, the discernment of the antirachitic potency of artificial and natural ultraviolet rays, and the discovery that ultraviolet irradiation could render various foods antirachitic. Guidelines were instituted to promote sensible exposure to sunlight and artificial ultraviolet radiation.

In addition, irradiated ergosterol from yeast became the major vitamin D source for food fortification and the treatment of rickets, leading to a public health campaign to eradicate rickets by the 1930s. We review the sequence and turn of events pertaining to the discovery of vitamin D and the strategies for the eradication of the reemerging rickets problem.

Key Words: Child and Adolescent Health, Environment, Nutrition/Food, Prevention, Public Health Practice, African Americans/Blacks