Sun exposure and vitamin D levels may play a strong role in reducing the risk of type 1 Diabetes among children, new findings reveal.

Scientists agree that Vitamin D, found in a healthy diet, sunlight and vitamin supplements, is vital for healthy living and helps reduce your risk of developing several types of cancer.

Now, researchers from the University of California in the US have found that people living near the equator, where there is abundant sunshine, have lower rates of type 1 diabetes. But people living at higher latitudes, where sunlight is scarcer, have higher incidence rates. The findings add new support to the theory that Vitamin D has a role in reducing diabetes risk.

Sunlight exposure triggers the skin to produce vitamin D3, but the vitamin is also available through diet and supplements.

"This is the first study, to our knowledge, to show that higher serum levels of vitamin D are associated with reduced incidence rates of type 1 diabetes worldwide," said researcher Dr Cedric F. Garland.

Type 1 diabetes is the second most common chronic disease in children, second only to asthma. It usually develops during childhood or as a teenager. Diabetes is a disease where your blood sugar level, produced when the body uses carbohydrates, is too high for the body to cope with. Glucose levels are kept under control by the hormone insulin, but people with Type 1 diabetes do not produce any insulin and have to inject insulin into their blood stream to regulate blood glucose and check their blood sugar levels several times daily in order to function properly and stay alive.

If you have diabetes and don’t manage it well, the health complications can be extremely dangerous –organ damage, blindness, arm and leg amputation, heart disease, kidney failure and possibly even death.

“This research suggests that childhood type 1 diabetes may be preventable with a modest intake of vitamin D3 (1000 IU/day) for children, ideally with 5 to 10 minutes of sunlight around noontime, when good weather allows," said Garland. "Infants less than a year old should not be given more than 400 IU per day without consulting a doctor. Hats and dark glasses are a good idea to wear when in the sun at any age."

"This study presents strong evidence to suggest that we may be able to prevent new cases of type 1 diabetes," said Garland. "By preventing this disease, we would prevent its many devastating consequences."

To find out more about Vitamin D’s link to reduced breast cancer risk, Click Here.