Deformities from lack of nutrition can occur at any age, even in utero. In the United States, 3 percent of children are born with birth defects, a condition that causes a physical change to one or more body parts. Researchers attribute some of those cases to maternal nutritional deficiency. In adults, nutrition-related deformities can often be traced to a vitamin D deficiency.
Osteoporosis
Calcium and vitamin D deficiencies increase your risk factor for developing osteoporosis, a disease that can cause spinal deformity and brittle bones. According to a June 2004 article published in the "Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques," some individuals who have the disease may develop spinal deformities so severe that they impair mobility and decrease quality of life. About 40 million Americans are at risk for the disease, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Rickets
Rickets can cause both skeletal and dental deformities. In children, poor nutrition and low blood levels of vitamin D can trigger the release of calcium and phosphorus from their bones, a condition which sets the stage for rickets. Adults are not immune from the disease. If you are obese or elderly, or if you have inflammatory bowel disease or cystic fibrosis, then you are at higher risk for vitamin D deficiencies.
Neural Tube Defects
The benefits of prenatal vitamins are well established, but researchers are still working to understand exactly how nutrition affects fetal development. Pregnant women, or women trying to become pregnant, should take folic acid supplements unless advised otherwise by a physician. Folic acid, or vitamin B-9, helps prevent birth defects, particularly neural tube defects. Neural tube defects affect the brain and spinal cord, e.g., spina bifida. In the United States, about 3,000 births each year are affected by neural tube defects. According to the March of Dimes, up to 70 percent of those birth defects could be avoided if all pregnant women took a daily multivitamin containing 400 micrograms of folic acid, the equivalent of 0.0004 g.
Research
Research suggests a strong correlation between proper nutrition and healthy pregnancy outcomes. In the February 2012 issue of the "Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine," researchers for the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, write that increasing the diet quality of women reduced the likelihood of their children having cleft palate or neural tube defects.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Facts about Birth Defects
- March of Dimes: Take Folic Acid Before You're Pregnant
- The Merck Manual: Vitamin D
- National Institutes of Health: What Is Osteoporosis? Fast Facts -- An Easy-to-Read Series of Publications for the Public
- Journal of Spinal Disorders and Techniques: Osteoporotic Spinal Deformity -- A Biomechanical Rationale for the Clinical Consequences and Treatment of Vertebral Body Compression Fractures
- PubMed Health: Rickets
