Children of 'powerful' Medici family suffered from rickets

Malnutrition and prolonged indoor life resulted in wealthy and powerful Italian Medici family's children suffering from rickets, a new paleopathological study has revealed.

University of Pisa researchers made the discovery after they analyzed nine skeletons that were found in 2004 in Medici Chapels in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence.

The bone analysis revealed that kid's ages ranged from newborn to about 5 years old and six of the nine skeletons displayed curved arms and bow legs, which are the classic signs of rickets, Discovery News reported.

The researchers also found that rather than from defects in metabolism, the problems origin was Medicis' desire to protect their offspring and raising them according to the highest social standards of their times.

The Medici princes were never weaned from mother's milk until they were at least 2.

Woman's milk was integrated with paps that were made of soft bread and apples.

In those times, skin colour was a way to distinguish the upper class from peasants who were engaged in field work.

The opportunity of sunlight exposure was significantly reduced after the Medicis wrapped their children in many heavy layers and in accordance to the Renaissance customs, infants were heavily swaddled, which left very little skin exposed.

Even two newborns showed signs of rickets, even though they should have received vitamin D from their mothers through the placenta.

The findings have been published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.