New guidelines for Vitamin D supplementation in children
Children should get 400 IU vitamin D daily from infancy through adolescence, according to new guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics. This new recommendation is twice the amount previously endorsed by the academy.
The risk is highest among exclusively breastfed infants, whose mothers often do not get enough vitamin D. Although breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for infants, vitamin D deficiencies in the maternal diet affect the vitamin D in a mother’s milk, so it’s important that breastfed infants receive supplements of vitamin D, say the researchers from the University of South Carolina in Charleston.
A growing body of literature and clinical studies point to the fact that adequate vitamin D consumption throughout childhood not only prevents rickets but appears to provide life-long benefits such as protection against infections, autoimmune diseases, cancer, and diabetes.
Specific recommendations in the report include:
- 400 IU of supplemental vitamin D daily for all infants who are exclusively or partly breastfed
- 400 IU of supplemental vitamin D for nonbreastfed infants and older children who consume less than a quart of vitamin D-fortified formula or milk daily
- The same dose of supplemental vitamin D for adolescents who do not get 400 IU daily from dietary sources
- Possibly higher doses of supplemental vitamin D for children who have an increased risk of deficiency because of certain medications (such as antiseizure drugs) or medical conditions (such as chronic fat malabsorption)
Parents, ask your pediatrician about these new recommendations.
via Pediatrics, November 2008
via MedPage Today, October 2008
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