By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, January 9, 2006, abstracted from “Maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and childhood bone mass at age 9 years: a longitudinal study” in the January 6, 2006 issue of The Lancet
Over the past two decades, research has been able to find more and more ways for the expecting mother to insure, through diet and nutritional supplementation, a healthy outcome for her baby. In the 1990’s it was folic acid’s addition to the food supply and the successful reduction in Neural Tube Defects (NTDs) by twenty-three percent.1
A new study2 has added yet another supplement to the list for expecting mothers: vitamin D. Recognized as a crucial nutrient for skeletal growth during infancy and childhood, it has been shown that vitamin D insufficiency is common in otherwise healthy pregnant women3 and that maternal nutrition, smoking, and physical activity during pregnancy have also been shown to predict the bone mass of their offspring at birth.4
In the study, researchers recruited children born to 160 white women who had participated in a study in England between 1991 and 1992.5 During early (15 weeks) and late (32 weeks) pregnancy, the women completed a lifestyle questionnaire, were asked their weight before pregnancy, what their nutritional supplementation and smoking habits were during pregnancy, and their height and weight during pregnancy.
Researchers found that mothers with lower concentrations of vitamin D during late pregnancy had children with reduced Bone Mineral Content (BMC) and Bone Mineral Density (BMD) at age 9. Mothers who were deficient in vitamin D (less than11 micrograms per liter) had offspring whose BMC was “significantly lower” than those born to mothers who had sufficient vitamin D levels.
For the researchers, “Vitamin D supplementation of pregnant women, especially during winter months, could lead to longstanding reductions in the risk of osteoporotic fracture in their offspring.”
Reference:
1 “Spina Bifida and Anencephaly Before and After Folic Acid Mandate --- United States, 1995--1996 and 1999—2000” from MMWR Weekly 2004; 53(17): 362-365
2 Maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and childhood bone mass at age 9 years: a longitudinal study. The Lancet 2006; 367:36-43
3 Dawodu, M Agarwal, M Hossain, J Kochiyil and R Zayed, Hypovitaminosis D and vitamin D deficiency in exclusively breast-feeding infants and their mothers in summer: a justification for vitamin D supplementation of breast-feeding infants, J Pediatr 142 (2003), pp. 169–173
4 K Godfrey, K Walker-Bone and S Robinson et al., Neonatal bone mass: influence of parental birthweight, maternal smoking, body composition, and activity during pregnancy, J Bone Miner Res 16 (2001), pp. 1694–1703
5 KM Godfrey, DJ Barker, S Robinson and C Osmond, Maternal birthweight and diet in pregnancy in relation to the infant's thinness at birth,
Br J Obstet Gynaecol 104 (1997), pp. 663–667
Product Catalog : Store Finder : Quality : Health Library : About NOW : News & Events : Contact us