Do all infants need vitamin D supplementation?

Abstract

A high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) in children has been observed worldwide, but there are few studies on the nutritional status of vitamin D (VD) in healthy infants. The main cause of deficiency in healthy children is breastfeeding without supplementation and lack or insufficiency of sun exposure. The aims of this study were to determine serum concentrations of 25(OH)D and verify its association with parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations and use of VD supplementation in healthy infants aged ≥ 6 to ≤ 24 months attended at two Primary Health Care Units in Ribeirão Preto city, São Paulo, Brazil. A cross-sectional, observational and analytical study was performed in which serum concentrations of 25(OH)D, PTH, alkaline phosphatase (AP), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and albumin were determined in 155 healthy infants. Information on sun exposure, sociodemographic aspects of mothers and clinical and nutritional characteristics of infants were obtained through interviews with responsible infants’s legal representatives. Ten infants (6%) presented deficient 25(OH)D serum concentration (≤20ng/ml) and 46 (30%), insufficient (21 to 29ng/ml). No changes in serum P, Ca and albumin concentrations were detected. Only one infant had an increase in PTH serum concentrations. 35% (55/155) of infants had high AP e 40% (22/55) presented insufficient serum concentrations of 25(OH)D but none presented deficient ones. There was a weak association between serum concentrations of 25(OH)D and PTH and an association between serum concentrations of 25(OH)D and P when adjusted for sex, age and BMI. There were no associations between inadequate serum concentrations of 25(OH)D (deficient ou insufficient), sun exposure and VD supplementation. This study found a low prevalence of deficient 25(OH)D serum concentration and high prevalence of insufficient ones which was not associated with changes in serum PTH, AP, P, Ca and albumin concentrations, VD supplementation and the formula volume intake.

Metagenomic analysis of the gut microbiome composition associated with vitamin D supplementation in Taiwanese infants

“…Otherwise, vitamin D plays an important role in both the immune and cardiovascular systems, it is considered to be a kind of steroid hormone 6 . Several studies have revealed the high prevalence of poor vitamin D status in school-age children around the world 7 – 12 , and few studies investigated the nutritional vitamin D status of newborns 13 , 14 . The main reasons for low level of vitamin D in children are without supplementary feeding and lack of outdoor sun exposure 15 .…”

Marker of vitamin D status in healthy children: Free or total 25-hydroxyvitamin D?

“…Likewise, no association was found between BMI values and free 25OHD levels. No uniform results have been reported in publications analyzing the relationship between BMI and total 25OHD concentrations in paediatric population [ 40 , 41 ]. As expected and commented above, the sustained administration of vitamin D supplements increased the circulating concentrations of free and total 25OHD.…”

Assessment of Awareness and Knowledge About Rickets in Primary Health Care Centers in Saudi Arabia Based on Health Belief Model and Social Cognitive Theory

“…In Brazil, the prevalence of children with Rickets between the ages of 8 to 24 months was 6%. On the other hand, the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency was 30% in studies done Brazil and Pennsylvania was 30% and 16% respectively (Almeida et al, 2018;Michel et al, 2015).…”

“…Globally, Rickets prevalence is increasing and many children were affected by this illness. It mostly affects infant and the prevalence among them vary from 2.7% and 45% (Almeida et al, 2018). According to a studies conducted in Canada and in New Zealand the incidence rates of rickets among children was 2.9 and 10.5 per 100 000 respectively (Ward, Gaboury, Ladhani, & Zlotkin, 2007;Wheeler et al, 2015).…”