vitamin d suuplementation

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that is necessary for skeletal health. It assists in the absorption of calcium from the intestines, and the breakdown and assimilation of phosphorous, both of which are essential for healthy bone and teeth development and function. Vitamin D also helps to maintain a healthy nervous system, normal heart functioning, and normal clotting responses by helping the body absorb calcium (Romm, 2003). The functions of this vitamin are widespread and complex, and in many ways it acts as a hormone. During pregnancy and breastfeeding it facilitates the crucial transfer of calcium from mother to child for skeletal development (Finer, et al., 2011). This paper will discuss the potential risks to both mother and child of vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy and lactation as well as current vitamin D supplementation recommendations.

Vitamin D comes from both the diet and the effect of sunlight on the skin. However, the majority of vitamin D comes from sunlight exposure. In the diet, vitamin D is obtained primarily through the consumption of fatty fish and fish liver oils. Smaller amounts are found in butter, milk from grass-fed cows, and egg yolks. Fortified commercial milk is a rich form of synthetic vitamin D (Romm, 2003). The main cause of vitamin D deficiency is lack of sunlight. Half an hour of sunlight in the middle of the day during summer delivers approximately 50,000 IU of vitamin D in people with white skin (Yu, Sykes, Sethi, Teoh, & Robinson, 2009). In contrast, a glass of fortified milk only contains 98 IU (Dutton, Densmore, & Turner, 2009). Most prenatal vitamins contain 400 IU (Romm, 2003).

Certain populations have an increased risk for vitamin D deficiencies. These populations include Middl...

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...ct food.” Clients should be counseled about some of the many reasons that vitamin D levels are low, such as: dietary choices, lifestyle choices such as staying indoors during the day, work schedules, living in urban areas with tall buildings, air pollution, darker skin pigmentation, use of sunscreen and covering much or all of the body when outside. Another factor that could be contributing to vitamin D deficiency in infants are the recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) that infants less than 6 months of age should be kept out of direct sunlight (Balasubramanian & Ganesh, 2008). Despite all of this, infants usually are protected from vitamin D deficiency for the first couple of months of life. Supplementation should be encouraged around 2 months of age. The six week post-partum visit would be a good time to discuss this with clients.