I wonder how come children are not being born bowl-legged, like they used to in the 60-70's?

Question

Maybe I am dating myself, but i wonder is there a change in diet or in the preservatives, that has changed our physical appearances, now in this era.

Answer 1

Are you thinking of the dietary deficency disease called rickets?

Rickets was fairly common in the USA until milk was enriched with calcium and the importance of vitamin D was discovered.

Rickets would cause the bones to soften and "bow". But by the time the Babyboomers were born, American diets were much better and rickets has pretty much become a thing of the past.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

"Rickets is a severe and prolonged vitamin D deficiency that leads to softening and weakening of the bones in children. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and phosphate, which children need to build strong bones. Good sources of dietary vitamin D are vitamin D-fortified formulas and milk."

My mother who is of the "Greatest Generation" has rickets when she was a girl and her jaw bones didn't grow properly and she ended up with a mouthful of very crowded and crooked teeth.

Answer 2

All Babies still are still born bow legged, it the way they are shaped in the uterus for all that time, but an increase in nutrition has helped them to develope strong bones as they learn to walk.

Answer 3

I think that particular condition was caused by rickets. Maybe we drink more milk or get more sunshine than we used to. Or . . . maybe there is actually one benefit to the Greenhouse Effect! Okay that is reaching. I would go with better nutrition and more nutrition awareness.

Answer 4

Funny, I saw one last night. He must have been 6-7 yrs old. I asked myself the same as he's been the first one I've seen in 20 years.

Answer 5

Bowed legs come from lack of or inability for the body to use vitamin D.

Answer 6

all the time kids are still born bowl legged

Answer 7

now days pregnant women have vitamins that they need to take to have a healthy birth. also mercury can make babies deformed. now days doctors warn women of eating canned tuna and fish because they can contain dangerous amounts of Mercury.

Answer 8

the doc grab the baby by its two feed, hang it upside down and give it a few shake to straighten and pop the bone in place.