Association of Maternal Gestational Vitamin D Supplementation with Respiratory Health of Young Children

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the association between maternal gestational Vitamin D3 supplementation and early respiratory health in offspring. This was a population-based record-linkage study which used data from the French National Health Database System. Maternal Vitamin D3 supplementation consisted of a single high oral dose of cholecalciferol, (100,000 IU) from the seventh month of pregnancy, according to national guidelines. In total, 125,756 term-born singleton children were included, of which 37% had respiratory illness defined as hospital admission due to respiratory causes or inhalation treatment up to 24 months of age. Infants prenatally exposed to maternal Vitamin D3 supplementation (n = 54,596) were more likely to have a longer gestational age (GA) at birth (GA 36–38 weeks, 22% vs. 20%, p p = 0.01). In conclusion, this study provides evidence for the association between maternal gestational Vitamin D3 supplementation and improved early respiratory outcomes in young children.

Keywords

• vitamin D deficiency
• vitamin D supplementation
• asthma
• bronchiolitis
• respiratory tract infections
• early term infants