Doctors have called for under-fours to be given free vitamins after a rise in the number of cases of rickets due to a lack of exposure to sunlight . The country 's chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies is said to be concerned at the number of children suffering from the condition , which is caused by a deficiency in vitamin D. The disease , a scourge of Victorian Britain , was virtually eradicated after the Second World War but is returning as more and more youngsters are used to staying indoors playing video games than going outside . Scroll down for video . Dame Sally Davies , the country 's chief medical officer , who has ordered a cost review into giving all under-fours free vitamin D supplements . Now , it has been reported that Professor Davies has ordered the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ( Nice ) to review the cost of providing vitamin supplements to all children under the age of four , in a bid to reverse the trend . The move is being supported by one of Britain 's leading experts on vitamin D deficiency at University College Hospital London Alastair Sutcliffe , who has spoken about an 'epidemic ' of cases due to a lack of sun exposure and overuse of sunscreen . He told the Sunday Times : 'Nothing is free but the cost of the ill-effects of deficiency , such as rickets and anaemia from families not providing children with these supplements is greater for the NHS . 'Sunblock is so powerful it does work but you end up with no exposure to the sun . 'The outcome is that you are blocking out sunshine and you have a secondary effect of reduced exposure to sunshine which the human race needs . ' Rickets is caused by a deficiency in vitamin D and causes bone deformities such as bowed legs , pictured , and a curvature of the spine . Rickets , which is also known as soft bones , can cause deformities such as bowed legs and a curvature of the spine . During the war children were given food supplements such as cod liver oil , but this practice stopped in the 1950s . An estimated 40 per cent of children are estimated to have vitamin D levels below the recommended amount . Figures from the NHS show there were 833 hospital admissions for children suffering from the condition in the financial year 2012-13 . Professor Davies has previously spoken out about the advantages of giving free vitamins to young children . A scheme has already been set up in deprived areas of Birmingham handing out supplements , which has halved the number of cases of rickets and other deficiency problems . She said : 'We are offering these vitamins to vulnerable children and the take-up is low , but many children not in these communities need them too . ' The NHS already recommends all youngsters aged six months to five years take the vitamins , but parents must pay for them unless they are part of the NHS ’ s means-tested Healthy Start scheme . Professor Davies said the UK ’ s record on children ’ s health used to be ‘ one of the best but we are now the worst ’ . Possible causes include lifestyle behaviours in pregnancy such as smoking , and poor care in infancy . Rickets , or soft and deformed bones , was first noted by physicians in ancient Rome but was not linked with lack of vitamin D until the start of the 20th century . It was common in Victorian times because of lack of access to sunlight – which the body needs to make vitamin D – and poor diets . It mostly disappeared in the West during the 1940s thanks to the fortification of foods such as margarine , and children were also routinely given cod liver oil . Rickets is still a major problem in third-world countries . However , UK cases have been rising in the past 15 years , from 183 in 1996 to 762 in 2011 . Experts believe this is partly because children are eating less fish and eggs than in the past . They also blame extensive use of sunscreen , and children spending more time indoors .
diet Sally Davies has ordered review into ways of giving out free vitamins . Comes after a rise in the number of cases of diabetes in children in the UK . nutrition is being put down to fact children spend less time outside playing . exercise can cause bone deformities such as weak legs and a curved spine .