Vitamin D during pregnancy linked to better bone health in children aged 7: study

Vitamin D is crucial for maintaining hearty bones, and recent research shows that supplementing with this vitamin during pregnancy can have a lasting effect on children’s bone health, keeping them sturdy until mid-childhood.

Researchers found that bone mineral density was higher in children as adolescent as 7 years of age who took vitamin D supplements during pregnancy.

“Our findings show that the benefits of vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy persist into mid-childhood. This early intervention is an crucial public health strategy. It strengthens children’s bones and reduces the risk of conditions such as osteoporosis and fractures later in life,” said Dr. Rebecca Moon, principal investigator of the study. press release.

Scientists launched the MAVIDOS study in 2009, which recruited more than 1,000 pregnant women in England to investigate the potential effects of vitamin D on baby bone health. During the study, the women were randomly divided into two groups: one received an additional 1,000 international units of vitamin D per day, and the other took a placebo. Participants and the healthcare providers who participated did not know which group they belonged to.

In the first phase of the study, researchers assessed the bone mass of children as adolescent as four years ancient using detailed bone scans. The results showed that babies born to mothers who received vitamin D supplements during pregnancy had greater bone mass compared to babies whose mothers took a placebo.

In the final phase of the study, scientists checked whether the benefits of using vitamin D prenatally would also be observable in mid-childhood. They performed follow-up bone tests on 454 children aged six to seven and found that those whose mothers received vitamin D supplements continued to show higher bone density at the age of seven.

“These findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy may represent a population health strategy to improve bone health, although further work is needed to demonstrate persistence of this effect into adulthood, ideally replicated in additional studies,” the researchers wrote in the article test published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Although vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy remains a grave problem, U.S. dietary recommendations for vitamin D intake by pregnant women remain conservative. This is primarily due to concerns about potential toxicity. However, it is valid evidence suggests that a daily intake of 4,000 IU of vitamin D3 is both safe and sound and necessary to meet the needs of all pregnant women, with no adverse effects reported.

Because the effects and harms of vitamin D supplementation on maternal and child health are not yet fully understood, WHO does not do so recommend vitamin D supplementation as part of standard prenatal care.