According to Department of Health, you are specifically at risk if you:
- Aren’t often outdoors – for example, if you’re frail or housebound
- Are in an institution like a care home
- Usually wear clothes that cover most of your skin when outdoors
“If you have dark skin – for example you have an African, African-Caribbean or south Asian background – you may also not get enough vitamin D from sunlight,” explains the public health body.
You should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D throughout the year if you are at risk, advises the NHS.
Can you take too many vitamin D supplements?
As the health body explains, taking too many vitamin D supplements over a long period of time can cause too much calcium to build up in the body (hypercalcaemia).