Exclusive: Lack of sun linked to vitamin D deficiency, which can cause bone malformations such as rickets. : Exclusive: Lack of sun linked to vitamin D deficiency, which can cause bone malformations such as rickets Young offenders confined to prison cells for nearly 24 hours a day are vulnerable to deficiencies that cause Victorian-era bone deformities like rickets, inspectors fear. The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) outgoing chief inspector of general practice voiced concerns about inmates “locked up in their cells on their own for most of the day”, which were echoed by prison reform campaigners.