Vitamin D: How Much Time to Spend in the Sun

Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones, and we get most of our vitamin D from exposure to sunlight. Find out how to make sure you get enough without risking sun damage.

Cover up or protect your skin before it starts to turn red or burn.

Everyone needs vitamin D to absorb calcium and phosphorus from their diet. These minerals are important for healthy bones. A lack of vitamin D (known as vitamin D deficiency) can cause softening and weakening of bones and lead to bone deformities. In children, for example, lack of vitamin D can lead to rickets. In adults, lack of vitamin D can lead to osteomalacia, which causes bone pain and tenderness.

How do we get vitamin D?

Our body creates most of our vitamin D from direct sunlight on our skin.
We also get vitamin D from some foods, such as oily fish (for example salmon, mackerel and sardines), eggs and meat.
Vitamin D is also added to all margarine and infant formula milk, and to some breakfast cereals, soya products, dairy products, powdered milks and low-fat spreads.

How long should we spend in the sun?

There isn't one recommendation to suit everybody. This is because the amount of time you need to spend in the sun for your skin to make enough vitamin D depends on a number of things.
These include your skin type (for example, how dark your skin is or how easily you get sunburnt), the time of year and what time of day it is.

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