I am married to an African American who has been incarcerated for 33 years. To make a very long story short: A. Confinement is basically, the only "legal" punishment in prison. When they are put in confinement for disciplinary reasons, they rarely, if ever, recieve an adequate ammount of sunlight to prevent vitamin D deficiency. Confinement for months, years and even decades is common. B. The department of corrections in my state, does not test for vitamin D deficiency, nor do they carry vitamin d supplements in the commisary. c. African Americans and other dark skinned people are incarcerated at a high rate, in the south, one in every 10 black men will be incercerated in their lifetimes. C. I am sure that African Americans in prison suffer shortened lives and this is aggravated by vitamin D deficiency and resulting illnesses. D. Prisons would be a perfect place to study D deficiency and with supplementation could save lives and heartbreak for families. Studies done on prisoners who are in "for life" could reveal much needed information. E. Perhaps someday we will be able to see some progress. Our laws say that people must be punished. Confinement without access to sunlight means illness and/or slow death from a lack of sunlight. F. Is this just another racist tactic to eliminate black people who descended from slaves?
Yes - very low vitamin D in prisons Extremely low vitamin D for those with dark skins in prisons See information at Vitamin D Life Prisons: http://www.vitad.org/tiki-index.php?page_id=537 Overview of Dark Skin and vitamin D http://www.vitad.org/tiki-index.php?page_id=1064 People with dark skin in prisons, similar to others in high-risk groups should have at least 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily. For details on how much, type, co-factors needed, etc, see http://www.vitad.org/tiki-index.php?page_id=766
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A. Confinement is basically, the only "legal" punishment in prison. When they are put in confinement for disciplinary reasons, they rarely, if ever, recieve an adequate ammount of sunlight to prevent vitamin D deficiency. Confinement for months, years and even decades is common.
B. The department of corrections in my state, does not test for vitamin D deficiency, nor do they carry vitamin d supplements in the commisary.
c. African Americans and other dark skinned people are incarcerated at a high rate, in the south, one in every 10 black men will be incercerated in their lifetimes.
C. I am sure that African Americans in prison suffer shortened lives and this is aggravated by vitamin D deficiency and resulting illnesses.
D. Prisons would be a perfect place to study D deficiency and with supplementation could save lives and heartbreak for families. Studies done on prisoners who are in "for life" could reveal much needed information.
E. Perhaps someday we will be able to see some progress. Our laws say that people must be punished. Confinement without access to sunlight means illness and/or slow death from a lack of sunlight.
F. Is this just another racist tactic to eliminate black people who descended from slaves?