

Give your skin short periods in the sun, without sunscreen, while you're doing short outdoor tasks such as: During this time, it's recommended you expose your skin to direct sunlight for around 10 minutes, once or twice per day. In the UK, your skin can only get vitamin D from sunlight between March and September. When the sun’s rays fall on your body, they react with your skin to make vitamin D.

And a severe shortage of vitamin D causes rickets and osteomalacia, which is soft, weak bones. Low vitamin D levels could increase your risk of osteoporosis and broken bones.

There are three ways you can get vitamin D: Vitamin D helps your body absorb and use calcium, which gives your bones their strength and hardness.
