I love the sun. I love the way it feels beating down on my face, the way it heats up my body after an especially frigid winter, and I love the way it makes me look. After a recent afternoon walk I was bombarded with: “You look so healthy.” And “Did you just get a facial?” How could something so good be bad?

Yes, we get it. Too much sun increases our skin cancer risk. There’s no need to report on anymore bad news. Which is why I was so excited to hear of a new UK study that found that women who soak up the sun during their last trimester of pregnancy can increase their unborn child’s bone density.

The connection is presumably explained by vitamin D, which is synthesized in the skin after sun exposure and plays a key role in bone health. It’s possible that a mother’s vitamin D levels late in pregnancy have lasting effects on her child’s later bone development. Bring on the rays! (In moderation of course.)

Tags: bone density, pregnancy, sun, third trimester, vitamin D

This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 9:27 am and is filed under Nancy's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.