%0 Journal Article
%T Very high vitamin D supplementation rates among infants aged 2 months in Vancouver and Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
%A Barbara Crocker
%A Tim J Green
%A Susan I Barr
%A Bridgid Beckingham
%A Radhika Bhagat
%A Beata Dabrowska
%A Rachel Douthwaite
%A Carmen Evanson
%A Russell Friesen
%A Kathy Hydamaka
%A Wangyang Li
%A Kelly Simmons
%A Lillian Tse
%J BMC Public Health
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2458-11-905
%X Mothers of all healthy infants born between April and May 2010 were approached to participate. Telephone surveys were conducted with 577 mothers (response rate 56%) when their infants turned 2 months.Over half of the infants received only breast milk in the week prior to the survey. One third received a mixture of breast milk and infant formula and 10% received only formula. About 80% of the infants were supplemented with vitamin D at 2 months. Infants who received only breast milk were most likely to be supplemented with vitamin D (91%). Over 60% of the infants had a total vitamin D intake of 300- < 500 IU/d from supplements and formula and only 5% did not receive any vitamin D. Most parents were advised to give vitamin D supplement by health professionals, such as public health nurses, midwives, and doctors.About 90% of the infants received breast milk at 2 months of age. The vitamin D supplementation rate was 80%. Future studies are needed to monitor breastfeeding duration and vitamin D supplementation rates as infants get older.Worldwide public health authorities recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life for healthy term infants [1-3]. Breast milk is the best food for optimal growth of the infant and breastfeeding has been associated with improved health outcomes for mother and infant [1]. While breast milk is the ideal food for infant, it does not generally supply adequate amounts of vitamin D [4]. As such, breastfed infants are at risk of vitamin D deficiency [5]. In its most serious form vitamin D deficiency in infancy leads to rickets, a condition characterized by weakened bones, resulting from poor mineralization of newly formed bone tissue [6]. Additionally, there is emerging evidence that lack of vitamin D during infancy, is associated with altered calcium metabolism [7], early childhood tooth decay [8], and increased risk of Type 1 Diabetes [9], and asthma later on [10].While infant formula is fortified with vitamin D, breastfed in
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/905