Context:

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched a nationwide campaign “Project Dhoop” on April 9 in Delhi.

Other Details:

• Project Dhoop is an innovative and effective concept to ensure that school students get adequate Vitamin D through sunlight, while also opting to choose food products like milk and edible oils that are fortified with Vitamins A and D.
• Project Dhoop urges schools to shift their morning assembly to noon time, mainly between 11 am and 1 pm to ensure maximum absorption of Vitamin D in students through natural sunlight.
• There is a popular belief that morning sunshine is the best for our bones, however, it is actually the sunshine from 11 am to 1 pm that is most beneficial in increasing Vitamin D levels in the human body because of the best ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation.
• Vitamin D deficiency occurs due to overuse of sunscreen, wearing clothes that cover most of the skin, working all day in an air-conditioned atmosphere, and other factors.

Source: Downtoearth