A study has found that vitamin D supplementation in expecting mothers can have long-term benefits on their child’s bone health.
Research conducted by the University of Southampton revealed that mums taking the nutraceutical during their pregnancy tended to have children with favourable bone health credentials.
This effect was observed in children who were up to seven years old, suggesting the long-term and durable benefits of vitamin D supplementation in mothers.
For mum and baby
Vitamin D’s potential in the human body has long been understood, with research suggesting it can be useful in a range of health areas.
An area of particular interest when discussing vitamin D’s benefits is bone health, as a range of studies have found it to be a cost-effective and easy way to prevent skeletal issues such as osteoporosis.
The connection between mother and baby is also well understood, with any nutrients absorbed by the mother reaching their child to some extent.
Therefore, researchers wanted to determine if the positive effects of vitamin D exposure in utero could positively impact children later on in life.
The long-lasting bone health impacts of vitamin D
To figure out how vitamin D supplementation could influence a child’s skeletal growth and development, pregnant females were given vitamin D from 14 to 17 weeks of gestation.
Following this protocol, participants were encouraged to attend a followup session when their children were 6 or 7 — of which 454 were assessed for this study.
From this, it was observed that the children of the mothers given vitamin D had a significantly higher bone mineral content.
They also exhibited a higher bone mineral density compared to placebo, as well as lean mass.
These results suggest that prenatal vitamin D intake can significantly impact a child’s bone development for many years to come.
Therefore, ensuring that sufficient vitamin D intake occurs both prenatally and postnatally in children could be a great way to support healthy bone development in children.
Rebecca Moon, Paediatric Endocrinology specialist at Southampton Children’s Hospital and lead author of this study, commented: “These findings suggest that pregnancy vitamin D supplementation may represent a population health strategy to improve bone health."
"However, further work will be needed to demonstrate persistence of this effect into adulthood, as well as supporting evidence from additional studies."