It was clear, as early as the three-month mark, that there was no advantage to the higher doses of vitamin D and that 400 IU per day was sufficient. They also looked at how much mineral was added to the babies' bones as they grew. After their initial intake in the study, the researchers then measured the babies' weight, length, and head circumference, as well as the levels of vitamin D in their blood at three months, six months, nine months and a year of age. The team followed a group of 132 infants in Montreal who were randomly assigned to receive different daily doses of vitamin D (400 IU per day, 800 IU, 1200 IU and 1600 IU) over a period of 12 months. Babies are not expected to do so and our northern climate limits synthesis in the colder months from about October to April.). (Vitamin D is sometimes called the "sunshine vitamin" because with enough sunshine, most people can make it themselves. The Canadian Pediatric Society distinguishes between winter and summer months and recommends that infants be given 800 IU per day during the winter when babies get less exposure to sunshine. At the lower end of the scale, Health Canada and the World Health Organization both recommend a daily dose of 400 IU. In France and Finland, the recommended daily dose is of 1,000 IU for infants. "But until now, no one had compared the popularly recommended daily doses of vitamin D to see what will result in optimal health for infants, so we were very glad to be able to do this."Ĭurrent recommendations about how much vitamin D a baby needs daily in order to build healthy bones and prevent rickets vary widely. "There's sometimes a feeling that more is better," says Prof. Celia Rodd of McGill's Department of Pediatrics, has just confirmed that 400 IU of vitamin D daily is sufficient for infant health. Hope Weiler, from the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition at McGill University and by Dr.
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