23岁的特殊教育需求教师Saskia Reeves-Priestley在工作期间突然晕倒，随后的血液检测显示其体内维生素D水平极低 1。这一案例折射出英国日益严峻的公共卫生问题，根据《国家饮食与营养调查》的数据，去年该国近四分之一的11至18岁青少年被归类为维生素D缺乏者 1。
医学专家警告，成人若长期缺乏维生素D可能引发被称为“沉默的疾病”的骨软化症，其疲劳和关节疼痛等症状常被误诊或忽视 1。儿科内分泌学家Suma Uday博士所在的团体“ACT NOW Vitamin D”呼吁提高界定维生素D缺乏的阈值，以便更早发现并治疗患者 1。伯明翰大学Martin Hewison教授指出，尽管维生素D的发现已逾百年，但佝偻病并未完全消失，他建议政府参考加拿大和瑞典的做法，考虑实施更广泛的强制性食品强化政策 1。目前，英国仅对早餐谷物等部分食品实行自愿性的维生素D强化 1。
The collapse of 23-year-old special educational needs teacher Saskia Reeves-Priestley at her workplace has highlighted a growing public health concern regarding vitamin D deficiency among young people in the United Kingdom 1. Blood tests revealed that Reeves-Priestley had almost no detectable levels of vitamin D, described as "next to nothing," which preceded her sudden fainting spell 1.
Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey indicates that nearly one-quarter of teenagers aged 11 to 18 in the UK were classified as having a vitamin D deficiency last year 1. This issue is part of a broader context where vitamin D deficiency in adults leads to osteomalacia, a condition often referred to as a "silent disease" due to subtle symptoms like fatigue and joint pain that are frequently misdiagnosed or overlooked 1. Martin Hewison, a professor at the University of Birmingham, noted that despite vitamin D being discovered a century ago, rickets has not disappeared 1.
Experts are calling for policy changes to address this rising prevalence. Dr. Suma Uday, a pediatric endocrinologist associated with the group "ACT NOW Vitamin D," advocates for raising the threshold used to define vitamin D deficiency to enable earlier detection and treatment 1. Professor Hewison suggests that the government should consider mandatory food fortification policies similar to those implemented in Canada and Sweden 1. Currently, the UK only applies voluntary vitamin D fortification to certain products, such as breakfast cereals 1.
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