Vitamin D Linked to Lung and Respiratory Conditions, Study Shows

We’ve all been advised to get our daily dose of Vitamin D, but new studies are showing the vitamin is even more important for moms-to-be – and their growing babies.

Researchers out of the Utrecht University Medical Center in the Netherlands measured cord blood levels of Vitamin D for 156 newborns, and then monitored these same babies for the first year of their life. Their findings were as follows:

Of the babies tested at birth, over a quarter had low levels of vitamin D. Within their first year of life, these babies had six times the risk of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) than the babies with normal levels of vitamin D.

RSV is considered one of the most significant causes of lung and lower respiratory infection in infants, and is also a common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia.

While this study examined Vitamin D levels of babies in the Netherlands, a US study conducted in 2010 out of Boston showed that 58 percent of babies born at just one hospital, along with 36 percent of mothers, had low vitamin D levels, which may indicate that the problem is widespread.

While it may seem logical to draw the conclusion that maternal Vitamin D supplements could help lower instances of RSV in infants, the study out of the Netherlands was too small for conclusive results and more research is needed. However, as a starting point, the researchers did observe that nearly half of the women in their study were taking vitamin D3 supplements, and found that their babies had notably higher levels of vitamin D at birth.

The full study can be found in the American Academy of Pediatrics online journal, Pediatrics.