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. 2011 Dec 7:11:905.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-905.

Very high vitamin D supplementation rates among infants aged 2 months in Vancouver and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Barbara Crocker  1 , Tim J Green, Susan I Barr, Bridgid Beckingham, Radhika Bhagat, Beata Dabrowska, Rachel Douthwaite, Carmen Evanson, Russell Friesen, Kathy Hydamaka, Wangyang Li, Kelly Simmons, Lillian Tse
Affiliations

Very high vitamin D supplementation rates among infants aged 2 months in Vancouver and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Barbara Crocker et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Vitamin D deficiency during infancy may lead to rickets and possibly other poor health outcomes. The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months. Breast milk is the best food for infants but does not contain adequate vitamin D. Health Canada recommends all breastfed infants receive a daily vitamin D supplement of 400 IU; however, there appears to be limited current Canadian data as to whether parents or caregivers are following this advice. The aim of this study was to determine the rates of vitamin D supplementation among 2-month old infants in Vancouver and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

Methods: Mothers of all healthy infants born between April and May 2010 were approached to participate. Telephone surveys were conducted with 577 mothers (response rate 56%) when their infants turned 2 months.

Results: Over half of the infants received only breast milk in the week prior to the survey. One third received a mixture of breast milk and infant formula and 10% received only formula. About 80% of the infants were supplemented with vitamin D at 2 months. Infants who received only breast milk were most likely to be supplemented with vitamin D (91%). Over 60% of the infants had a total vitamin D intake of 300- < 500 IU/d from supplements and formula and only 5% did not receive any vitamin D. Most parents were advised to give vitamin D supplement by health professionals, such as public health nurses, midwives, and doctors.

Conclusions: About 90% of the infants received breast milk at 2 months of age. The vitamin D supplementation rate was 80%. Future studies are needed to monitor breastfeeding duration and vitamin D supplementation rates as infants get older.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participant flow and follow-up.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Daily total vitamin D intake from supplements and infant formula at two months of age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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