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Maternal nutrition, infants and children

Feto-maternal vitamin D status and infant whole-body bone mineral content in the first weeks of life

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 66, pages 1016–1019 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:

Compromised vitamin D status is common in pregnancy and may have adverse impacts on fetal development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of infant whole-body bone mineral content (WBBMC) at 8–21 days of age with feto-maternal vitamin D status in a multiethnic population in Oakland, California.

SUBJECTS/METHODS:

This was a cross-sectional study of 120 women and their newborn infants. Maternal and cord blood were collected at delivery. WBBMC was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in term-born infants 8–21days post birth.

RESULTS:

No significant association was observed between unadjusted or size-adjusted WBBMC and feto-maternal vitamin D status analyzed continuously or categorically. In multivariate modeling, unadjusted WBBMC was predicted by bone area (P<0.0001), weight-for-age (P<0.0001) and weight-for-length (P=0.0005) Z-scores, but not by feto-maternal vitamin D status. Anthropometric predictors but not vitamin D remained significant in the multivariate model after adjustment of WBBMC for weight, bone area (bone mineral density) or logarithmically derived exponents of the denominators.

CONCLUSIONS:

Results of the present study do not support an association between feto-maternal vitamin D status and early infant WBBMC, raw or adjusted for inter-individual differences in size, in a multiethnic population in Northern California.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge the financial support for this study from the USDA, ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center and the East Bay Neonatology Foundation. We extend a special thanks to Janet M Peerson at UC Davis for her assistance with statistical analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Allen Lab, USDA, ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis, CA, USA

    D K Dror & L H Allen

  2. Children’s Hospital & Research Center, Oakland, CA, USA

    J C King, D J Durand & E B Fung

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  1. D K Dror
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  2. J C King
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  3. D J Durand
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  4. E B Fung
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  5. L H Allen
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Correspondence to D K Dror.

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Dror, D., King, J., Durand, D. et al. Feto-maternal vitamin D status and infant whole-body bone mineral content in the first weeks of life. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 1016–1019 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.79

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