Parents Are Being Wrongly Accused Of Child Abuse Because Of Rise In...

[Alison J Stevens]

Parents Are Being Wrongly Accused Of Child Abuse Because Of Rise In...

Sheffield Children’s Hospital

Scientists are claiming that parents are being wrongly accused of child abuse because of an undiagnosed epidemic of rickets among very young children.

Rickets is caused by a lack of vitamin D. In very young children, the condition can lead to breakage of bones, and can trigger fatal bleeds in the brain. Cases of the illness have soured in the past decade due poor lifestyle and diet.

It has been shockingly claimed that parents are being accused of abusing their young children, when the children are in fact suffering from rickets.

These new claims are originating from scientists from Sheffield Children’s Hospital and London’s Barts hospital. They are suggesting that in many cases parents are mistakenly being accused of hurting or shaking babies whose injuries were actually caused by rickets.

A case of this was seen recently when a couple were originally accused of murdering their son, Jayden Wray, who died at four months from head injuries. Last month the parents were cleared of murder at the Old Bailey when it was discovered that the child actually had the severe vitamin D deficiency that was passed onto him by his mother, causing him the injuries that led to his death.

Dr Irene Scheimberg, of Barts hospital, believes that the rise of rickets is leading to parents being wrongly accused of abuse.

Dr Marta Cohen, of Sheffield Children’s Hospital, said that due to this confusion, it was likely that many children suffering from rickets had wrongly been placed into foster homes because their parents had been suspected of abuse. When speaking to BBC Radio 4 she said:

“If you have bones that fracture easily they will fracture with any normal movement. Like trying to put a babygrow on a baby, you will twist the arm. ‘In a child whose bones are weakened, it’s easier for them to get these very tiny fractures or big fractures. There should be a commission that studies all of these cases, taking into account the age of these children, their gender, the race, the way in which these families live.”

Dr Cohen also believes that rickets could also be responsible for many cases of cot death, or sudden infant death syndrome, because it can cause the heart to stop beating.

The Doctor recently carried out a study involving 24 babies who had died of cot death. She interestingly found that three quarters were found to have moderate or severe vitamin D deficiency.

The Government estimates that as many as 40 per cent of Britons are deficient in vitamin D. The increase in rickets in young children has been blamed on the children spending considerably more time inside, rather than outside in the sun.