Study of the development of rickets in children and nursing approaches for treatment

Abstract

Rickets is currently one of the most prevalent and reported in the developing world to be a non-communicable disease for children. Today in developing nations, nutritional rickets is a rare occurrence. This is often found in food cultures, in which children have strict vegetarian diets and are not exposed to vitamin D-enhanced foods. While a rare occurrence, X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets may be the most frequent cause of the disease seen outside the Third World today. However, there is not much credible information on the extent of the development of rickets. Therefore, nurses for children must always be able to recognize those at risk and provide the best practice for the prevention and treatment of rickets. If caring for children in hospitals, communities, or classrooms, nurses play a vital role in finding children at risk for hypovitaminosis D and in advising families, if possible, to take safe diets and supplements, in avoiding health complications associated with low amounts of vitamin D. This paper examines the prevalence and contributing rickets variables, including hypo vitamin D, the implicatory orthopedic health problems and the role of the nurse in preventing and managing pathogenesis of rickets that ultimately to avoid extreme deficits, resulting in bony distortion and the need for corrective intervention.