Premature graying in children is the result of melanocyte inactivity that is usually caused by malnutrition. This sometimes occurs in children and is a condition that will remedy itself in time with proper food intake.
Melanocytes are stem cells in our body that are found under the skin. They secrete melanin, which is a pigment that is responsible for the color of the skin and hair that humans have – though the pigment can also be found in some kind of plants. Melanin in the hair consists of two types: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Eumelanin is the darker of the two forms of melanin and it is the balance of these two that cause the darker or lighter appearance of hair color. It is also usually the changing balance of these two forms of melanin that cause the change in hair color of some Caucasians from blonde to darker colors over the course of their lifetime. Melanocytes, being stem cells, keep regenerating and their numbers are always fixed in the body. This has no bearing on the skin color itself but the activity and melanin production is the key to skin and hair color. Melanogenesis it the cellular process in which melanin is created and stimulating this process is what you need to achieve to reverse the effect of graying that your children are undergoing. Note that this cannot be achieved in a case of natural adult graying. This is because adult graying is caused by the death of melanocytes in the skin – a process that cannot yet be reversed. When the skin pigment melanin is absent in the skin and hair, the hair turns into a transparent tube but the entire collection of hair can give the impression of a gray and white appearance.
To stimulate melanogenesis the simplest action you could take is to let your children out in the sun more often. When melanocytes are exposed to UV radiation, the process of melanogenesis is triggered causing more melanin to be produced permanently. Additionally, you should also increase your children’s intake of vitamin A by making them eat carrots or through vitamin supplements. Another technique that is probably going to be available it the future is tanning by using the extract of the Indian Coleus plant. This is probably going to be available in topical creams in the future. Currently, it is still under testing. UV exposure is not completely without its risks and overkill potential. Exposure in the sun for more than five or ten minutes at a time should be avoided to avoid cellular damage and sunburns.