Babies, Parenting, Child Health, Infant Nutrition

Baby Development- Canadian Study Finds Low Vitamin D levels in Pregnant Women Could Cause Cavities for Their Babies

07.16.2008 | 2:07:36 pm | Posted by mummums

By Colleen Hurley, RD, Certified Kid’s Nutrition Specialist

While most milk drinkers know their milk is fortified with Vitamin D, many might not know why. It is even added to milk alternatives such as soy, rice, and almond milks. Also known as the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D can be synthesized through the skin with the help of a organic baby food, parenting little sun exposure. Optimal conversion of vitamin D from sunshine is contingent on many factors including the longitude and latitude of where you live, season, and time of day. This inconsistency of optimal sunrays is one of the main reasons why vitamin D is added to foods.

Research is discovering vitamin D is far more critical for a variety of functions within the body than previously understood and that a shocking number of Americans, particularly women, are deficient. One of the most important roles in the body played by vitamin D is regulation of calcium absorption. Basically, without adequate dietary vitamin D, our bodies cannot use calcium as it should to maintain strong healthy teeth and bones.

Vitamin D deficiency has recently been linked to increase of heart attacks as well as the risk of several types of cancers. A recent study found that vitamin D deficiency may also be linked to childhood cavities. This deficiency wasn’t so much dependent on the infant’s diet, but rather the diet of the expectant mum.

Measuring the vitamin D levels of 206 pregnant women, Canadian researchers then examined their infants at a follow up appointment. The study found that 90% of the women had low concentrations of vitamin D. This low maternal vitamin D had a trickle down effect on the babies as 135, when examined at 16 months, had cavities.

What You Can Do
Baby’s teeth begin developing as early as 6 weeks in utero, and vitamin D is critical to the formation of protective tooth enamel. There are a few ways you can be sure to get enough vitamin D. To start, be sure to take your prenatal vitamins daily. Also, as little as 15 minutes of sunlight exposure at least 3 times per week can help vitamin D production. Fish is great source of vitamin D, as well as those beneficial omega 3 fatty acids, but fish intake during pregnancy needs to be limited to no more than 12 ounces per week. Most important, be sure to keep your regular check-ups with your physician throughout your pregnancy and discuss maintaining healthy vitamin D levels.

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