I was in the airport yesterday, so i actually had sometime to sit and just read the newspaper. There was an article in the USA Today on Vitamin D supplements and how breast fed babies do not receive enough Vitamin D.
The article states:
Only 1% to 13% of infants under 1 year now get a vitamin D supplement, available in inexpensive drops, according to a study published online today in Pediatrics.
Those drops are needed, the study says, because only 5% to 37% of American infants met the standard for vitamin D set by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2008: 400international units a day.
Vitamin D strengthens bone and the immune system and also appears to prevent type 1 diabetes, heart disease and cancer, the paper says.
Few breast-fed babies — 5% to 13%, depending on their age — received the recommended amount of vitamin D, researchers estimated...
It continues to say:
Many mothers also are vitamin D-deficient.
A second study in Pediatrics reports that 58% of newborns and 36% of mothers were deficient in vitamin D, according to blood tests. Although taking prenatal vitamins helped, more than 30% of moms who took them were still deficient. Getting lots of sunlight helped raise vitamin D levels in moms, but not in their newborns.
Relatively few pediatricians today talk about vitamin D with parents, says Wendy Sue Swanson, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital who wasn't involved in the new research. That may be because the pediatrics academy's previous vitamin D recommendation — 200 international units a day, set in 2003 — was easier to meet, Swanson says.
My pediatrician has not spoken to me about Vitamin D. Since I sit in an windowless office everyday, I have to be one of those deficient moms mentioned above.
Did you supplement?
I did not use a vitamin D supplement, since I was supplementing with formula. The pediatrician thought the supplemental formula provided enough vitamin D. I would mention it to your doctor next time and see what they say.
ReplyDeleteI want to say around 4 months I started a vitamin supplement which they primarily recommended for the Vitamin D. I've heard lots of things recently about adults needing it ... probably very true.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I would ask next time like Angie said :)
When I was nursing, my ped recommended it... we bought the supplement (Trivisol, I think it's called?)and tried giving it to him a couple times. He hated it. It's really stinky, so I didn't blame him. And it stains horribly if you have a bad spitter upper! But we switched to formula soon after that due to a separate issue, so I didn't have to worry about it any longer. I continued taking prenatals after his birth (and still taking them) so I hope that gives me the D I need.
ReplyDeleteI agree trivisol / polyvisol is gross!
ReplyDeleteyou can also get more vitamin D in your diet if you eat omega 3 rich fish (tuna, salmon, etc.) or via dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese) or eggs. Fortified cereal packs a 1-2 punch if you eat it with vit d milk.
From wikipedia:
Vitamin D is naturally produced by the human body when exposed to direct sunlight. In many countries, such foods as milk, yogurt, margarine, oil spreads, breakfast cereal, pastries, and bread are fortified with vitamin D2 and/or vitamin D3.[27] In the United States and Canada, for example, fortified milk typically provides 100 IU per cup, or a quarter of the estimated adequate intake for adults over age 50
Natural sources of vitamin D include:[2]
Fatty fish species, such as:
Herring, 85 g (3 ounces (oz)) provides 1383 IU
Catfish, 85 g (3 oz) provides 425 IU
Salmon, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz) provides 360 IU
Mackerel, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz), 345 IU
Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 50 g (1.75 oz), 250 IU
Tuna, canned in oil, 85 g (3 oz), 200 IU
Eel, cooked, 100 g (3.5 oz), 200 IU
A whole egg, provides 20 IU