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Why can pregnancy and rapid childhood growth increase vitamin needs?

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rickets, a nutritional disease — nutritional disease Children with rickets. The disease, which most commonly strikes children, causes bone deformities such as bowlegs. Rickets is caused by a lack of vitamin D or calcium.

Pregnancy and rapid childhood growth increase the body's requirement for vitamins because these life stages involve intense physiological development and metabolic activity that demand higher levels of essential nutrients to support new tissue formation and overall growth.1

During pregnancy, a woman’s nutritional intake must support not only her own metabolic needs but also the development of the fetus. For instance, the demand for nutrients like folic acid is critical early in gestation to prevent birth defects, while other nutrients such as protein, vitamin D, calcium, and iron are essential throughout to ensure healthy fetal development and maternal health.23

Similarly, childhood is a period of rapid physical maturation. When the body undergoes such accelerated growth, it requires a higher concentration of vitamins to facilitate the proper development of organs, tissues, and skeletal structures. If dietary intake is not adjusted to meet these heightened requirements, the individual becomes vulnerable to nutritional deficiency, which can lead to various health complications.14