Rickets rebound

You thought it went out with consumption, but rickets -- the bone disease caused by a vitamin D deficiency -- is making a comeback, according to a story in NGNEWS, the online service of National Geographic. Rickets was nearly wiped out in the 1930s, when the government required that vitamin D be added to milk. But now that more women are breast-feeding their babies and we're all spending less time outdoors (sunlight is another important source of the vitamin), some breast-fed infants aren't getting enough vitamin D. Most cases are turning up among dark-skinned children, because darker skin doesn't absorb sunlight as well as lighter skin.

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