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Low vitamin D in pregnancy may lead to overweight children

Category: Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment

Pregnant women may benefit from blood testing to assess their vitamin D levels. A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicates that women who have low levels of the nutrient face a high risk of having overweight children.

The Southampton University researchers who conducted the study said that prior investigations have linked low vitamin D levels with obesity. This prompted the team to wonder if the metabolic risks associated with low vitamin D levels may be passed on in the womb from mother to child.

For the study, the team administered blood tests to measure vitamin D levels to nearly 1,000 pregnant women. The researchers then tracked the weight of the children for up to six years.

The results showed that children born to mothers with low vitamin D levels were initially underweight, but by the time they reached age 4, they were more likely to be overweight than children born to mothers with adequate vitamin D levels.

The researchers said the findings will need to be confirmed by further investigation, but the results do add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that low vitamin D levels and obesity are linked.