D is for Dumb

Colin,

It seems people are trying to link everything to SIDS these days. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it really is not a good thing either. Let Daddy explain. Finding medically sound links to possible "triggers" for SIDS is a good thing, but just blatantly misleading people by using sketchy correlation logic is definitely not a good thing at all. In an article shared by the ever "interesting" HuffPo, they ask the question "SIDS And Vitamin D Deficiency: What's The Link?" and then end with "Incidence of both SIDS and vitamin D deficiency is thought to peak during the winter months." Using this logic is like saying that both SIDS and snow are thought to peak during winter months, therefore snow causes SIDS. Even better would be that both SIDS and cold weather are thought to peak in the winter months, so now we can draw a straight line from a random temperature...say 20°F...is directly related to SIDS. Not only is this kind of "logic" wrong, it is also misleading and may wind up having parents give their children completely unnecessary vitamin supplements which may, in turn, cause other issues.

By the way, the original focus of the story was about an infant found to possibly have suffered from severe rickets due to vitamin D deficiencies and the acquittal of his parents on murder charges. So I guess rickets is now a cause of SIDS too. As Daddy has always said...the only thing worse than no information is misinformation. So, to those responsible for this very logically flawed correlation between vitamin D and SIDS, please think before you publish.

Talk to you tomorrow little man. I love you!
Daddy