Near the end of the 2008/2009 school year, Jenny and I began giving Neil and Evan a daily dose of Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil, and in late 2009, we added an additional 1000 IU of vitamin D in the form of a chewable gummy.
Their quarterly attendance report is pretty compelling evidence that the stuff works.
Quarterly Absenteeism
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | ||
| Kindergarten | Evan | 2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 17 |
| 2008/2009 | Neil | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| First Grade | Evan | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 2009/2010 | Neil | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Second Grade | Evan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010/2011 | Neil | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Comments are appreciated and welcome.
Well…for a guy that has posted some quite excellent science here which I have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated for its evidence, um — you are jumping a little soon on the causation train I’m afraid
My kids aged 7 and 9 don’t take any supplements and they don’t get sick or miss school. I think they have 3 missed days in a combined 8 years of elementary school (including kindergarten) between them.
Correlation causation.
Gary,
In spite of the admonishment, I believe there is tremendous value in n=1 (or in this case n=2) measurements and observations especially when those observations are wedded with sound science (I believe I provided the scientific groundwork in an earlier post on vitamin D).
If groups of people then take their individual observations and pool them together, I believe we create a much richer view of cause and effect vs. simply relying on the latest research.
…Tim
Well, that table of course isn’t at all a proof of the benefits of vitamin D supplementation, but it doesn’t say that vitamin D had no effect on missing times either.
Personally, I don’t supplement it, but I try to get my dose of sunlight every day outside. I feel better if I do.
Kath, Sunshine is for sure the right tonic; however over the winter it is hard for me to get enough vitimin D (Winter 2009 I measured 22 ng/mL which was borderline deficient).
Agreed. And, although spring is coming, it’s hard to get enough when it’s raining all day.
So I may go and have a look for vitamin D! 
did you consider the fact that younger age (ie kindergarten) and parental attitudes may have a role in these outcomes? The first year or a child is starting to attend school, I would find it extremely more likely for the child to perhaps complain about being separated from home or not liking school very much and would also expect the parents to respond to these complaints with much sympathy (ie letting the child miss a day) based on the fact that it is a new situation for both parties. By grade 2, however, I would suspect that attending school on a daily basis would be routine for the child and/or the parents would be less likely to allow the child to stay home as often. Basically, most parents would become conditioned to any petty complaining a child may have about going to school any particular day and therefore attendance is better overall.
I think your comment is good in that it may be the case in some instances; however it also makes a number of assumptions. First, both of our boys had been attending preschool for two years prior to Kindergarten and were very much used to the routine. Second, our kids LOVE school and have since day one. They have never complained about having to go (odd I know). Third, when a child has a fever of over 100, I am pretty sure they need to stay home from school regardless of what they may or may not say about wanting to go to school.