Prevention of vitamin D deficiency during infancy is achieved by a combination of low-dose maternal and infant supplementation

摘要

Owing to concerns about adequacy of nutritional status and implications of maternal deficiency for both skeletal and non-skeletal health outcomes in mothers and babies, vitamin D nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood is the focus of intense interest among practitioners, scientists and the public. Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and infancy appears to be relatively common at Northerly latitudes;1 however, there is an absence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) reference data among sera collected from pregnant women at different gestational stages, from umbilical cords and from infants during the first 2 years.2'3 Recent narrative and systematic reviews on the impact of vitamin D on pregnancy2'4 and extra-skeletal health in children5 concluded that there are unconfirmed effects of 25OHD on preventing pregnancy complications4 and potentially serious adverse consequences of low maternal 25OHD during pregnancy on the risk of childhood infectious diseases, which require investigation.