Vitamin D supplementation in newborns and toddlers leads to better mental health outcomes after age 6

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2805032?guestAccessKey=2ba27929-8559-41de-971c-621ac4324d38&utm_content=weekly_highlights&utm_term=060423&utm_source=silverchair&utm_campaign=jama_network&cmp=1&utm_medium=email

This is a long term follow study done in Helsinki, Finland. They examined whether or not increasing the daily Vitamin D dose for infants and toddlers from 400iu per day up to 1200iu per day from age 2 weeks through 24 months led to improved mental health outcomes once that child reached age 6-8. They also looked at what impact did maternal Viramin D levels have, comparing those who had a baseline Vitamin D of 30ng/ml compared to moms who had a higher than 30ng/ml vitamin D serum level.

Among 346 participants (164 females, 182 males,) the vitamin D₃ dose was 400 IU for 169 participants and 1200 IU for 177 participants. They used a childhood behavioral check list to look at how children scored to internal factors, external factors, and total problems.

Findings: Clinically significant internalizing problems occurred in 10 participants in the 1200-IU group (5.6% prevalence) compared with 20 participants (11.8%) in the 400-IU group. They did adjust for sex, birth season, maternal depressive symptoms at birth, and parental single status at follow-up.

In a post hoc subgroup analysis, 48 children in the 400-IU group with maternal Vitamin D concentrations less than 30 ng/mL had higher internalizing problems scores compared with children in the 1200-IU group, including 44 children with maternal 25(OH)D concentrations below 30 ng/mL and 91 children with maternal concentrations above 30 ng/mL. Groups did not differ in externalizing or total problems.

Lower Vitamin D levels in pregnancy have been associated with unfavorable neurobehavioral and mental health outcomes in offspring, including negative affectivity in infancy, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and depression. Therefore, our secondary aim was to explore whether a higher-than-standard childhood vitamin D₃ supplementation modified the potential impact of maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy on child mental health outcomes.

We already supplement babies and toddlers with Vitamin D, and the benefits to increasing the dose are supported in this study. Increasing the dose in children age 2 weeks through 24 weeks also helps compensate for a pregnant mom who did not have adequate Vitamin D levels during pregnancy when neurodevelopment was occurring.

Check another win in the Vitamin D box.