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Rickets cases rising, kids of affluent families getting afflicted
PUNE Hospitals in the city have been reporting a rise in the number of cases of rickets since last year and children from affluent families too are getting afflicted by the disease, the hospital authorities said
PUNE Hospitals in the city have been reporting a rise in the number of cases of rickets since last year and children from affluent families too are getting afflicted by the disease, the hospital authorities said.
Rickets is a skeletal disorder in children caused by a lack of vitamin D, calcium or phosphorous, resulting in bone pain, weak and soft bones and various skeletal deformities.
During the pandemic, children were holed up in their house, which restricted their physical activity, and developed bone deformity due to lack of vitamin D.
Before Covid-19 and lockdowns, children with rickets coming to the hospital were generally from a poor socio-economic background where lack of nutrition caused the disease, but for the last one year, even well-nourished children from affluent families are also developing rickets as they were mostly prevented from playing outdoors, observed city paediatric orthopedic experts.
Dr Sandeep Patwardhan, paediatric orthopedic surgeon from Sancheti hospital said, “Normally, before lockdown we used to see five to six cases in a month, now we are seeing 30 to 35 cases in a month. Bone pain and deformity like bow legs are the usual symptoms for rickets.”
Nine-year-old Sumit Bhalerao (name changed), visited a hospital last week with complaints of muscle and joint pain. His mother said, “We noticed a change in his walk for two weeks and then we noticed the slight change in his legs. But, in a month’s time, the change in his walk and shape of his legs were alarmingly noticeable. Doctors diagnosed him with rickets and after a treatment of six months he is back to normal.”
Dr Patwardhan, who treated Sumit, said,“If a child is standing up straight and knees are touching and ankles are apart then you call it knock legs. When a child’s knees stay wide apart even when the ankles are together, it is called bow legs. Lack of vitamin D and obesity are the causes. During the lockdown, many children were prevented from playing outdoors. This led to lack of vitamin D. Also, this has led to a rise in obesity among children. This led to an exponential rise in rickets cases.”
Dr Aniket Patil, an orthopedic surgeon from Noble Hospital, said, “The rise in rickets case in mainly due to lack of exposure to sunlight and obesity, which was observed during the lockdown, as movement in children was restricted. This can be treated with medications, physiotherapy and in some rare cases with surgery.”
Priyanka Patil, senior physiotherapist at HealYos Physiotherapy said, “The muscular disorder is seen in children between 3 and 8-years. Their walking pattern was affected due to restricted movement. For those who are coming to us with such complaints, we are giving them some play activities that should be done on an open ground.”
