Sunday June 24, 2012
A study suggests a link between children’s body fat and vitamin D
insufficiency in their mothers.
CHILDREN are more likely to have more body fat during childhood if their
mother had low levels of Vitamin D during pregnancy, according to scientists at
the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (MRC LEU), University
of Southampton, UK.
Low vitamin D status has been linked to obesity in adults and children, but
little is known about how variation in a mother’s status affects the body
composition of her child.
Low vitamin D status is common among young women in the UK, and although
women are recommended to take an additional 10μg/day of vitamin D in pregnancy,
supplementation is currently not routine.
In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
last month, scientists at the MRC LEU compared the vitamin D status of 977
pregnant women with the body composition of their children.
The findings showed that children born to mothers with low vitamin D status
in pregnancy had more body fat when they were six years old.
These differences could not be explained by other factors such as the
mother’s weight gain in pregnancy, or how physically active the children
were.
The 977 women are part of the Southampton Women’s Survey, one of the largest
women’s surveys in the UK.
Study lead Dr Siân Robinson says: “In the context of current concerns about
low vitamin D status in young women, and increasing rates of childhood obesity
in the UK, we need to understand more about the long-term health consequences
for children who are born to mothers who have low vitamin D status.
“Although there is growing evidence that vitamin D status is linked to body
fatness in children and adults, this research now suggests that the mother’s
status in pregnancy could be important too.
“An interpretation of our data is that there could be programmed effects on
the fetus arising from a lack of maternal vitamin D that remain with the baby
and predispose him or her to gain excess body fat in later childhood.
“Although further studies are needed, our findings add weight to current
concerns about the prevalence of low vitamin D status among women of
reproductive age.”
This study is part of a wider body of work by MRC LEU into how factors during
pregnancy might have a long-term influence on childhood growth and
development.
The unit’s director, Prof Cyrus Cooper, comments: “This is a wonderful
example of multi-disciplinary research using the unique clinical and biochemical
resource provided by the Southampton Women’s Survey.
“The observations that maternal vitamin D insufficiency might be associated
with reduced size at birth, but accelerated gain in body fat during early
childhood, add to the considerable amount of evidence suggesting that vitamin D
status during pregnancy may have critical effects on the later health of
offspring.”
http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2012/6/24/health/11528385&sec=health
