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Food and health

Vitamin D and probiotics supplement use in young children with genetic risk for type 1 diabetes

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 1449–1454 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Vitamin D and probiotics are nutrients of interest in the context of type 1 diabetes (T1D). We assessed the prevalence of and factors associated with vitamin D and probiotic supplementations among young children with genetic risk of T1D.

Subjects/Methods:

Use of supplements during the first 2 years of life was collected prospectively from 8674 children in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study.

Results:

Single and/or multivitamin/mineral (MVM) supplements were reported by 81% of the children. The majority of participants in Finland, Germany and Sweden (97–99%) and 50% in the United States received vitamin D supplements that were mostly MVMs. Probiotics use varied from 6% in the United States to 60% in Finland and was primarily from probiotics-only preparations. More than 80% of the vitamin D and probiotics supplementation was initiated during infancy, and more than half of the uses lasted longer than a year. Being the first child, longer duration of breastfeeding, born in a later year, older maternal age and higher maternal education level were associated with both vitamin D and probiotics use. Shorter gestational age and mother not smoking during pregnancy were associated with a higher likelihood of probiotics supplementation only.

Conclusions:

Vitamin D and probiotics supplementations are popular in children 0–2 years old and are associated with common factors. Data documented here will allow evaluation of the relationship between early childhood dietary intake and the development of islet autoimmunity and progression to T1D.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the participation of all families and the work of the TEDDY Study Group. The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study is funded by U01 DK63829, U01 DK63861, U01 DK63821, U01 DK63865, U01 DK63863, U01 DK63836, U01 DK63790, UC4 DK63829, UC4 DK63861, UC4 DK63821, UC4 DK63865, UC4 DK63863, UC4 DK63836, UC4 DK95300, UC4 DK100238, UC4 DK106955, and Contract No. HHSN267200700014C from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This work supported in part by the NIH/NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Awards to the University of Florida (UL1 TR000064) and the University of Colorado (UL1 TR001082). The NIDDK, NIAID, NICHD, NIEHS, JDRF and CDC had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article. This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki and all procedures involving human subjects/patients were approved by local Institutional Review Board at each TEDDY clinical center and were monitored by an External Evaluation Committee formed by the National Institutes of Health. Written informed consents were obtained from a parent or primary caregiver, separately, for genetic screening and participation in the prospective follow-up.

Author contributions

JY formulated research questions, coordinated and supervised data collection, and drafted and revised the manuscript. RNT carried out statistical analyses, reviewed and revised the manuscript. UMU, CAA, KS, AR, NF, GJ and CW supervised data collection and critically reviewed the manuscript. JMN and SMV conceptualized the study, designed the data collection instruments and critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. JY has full access to the data in the study and final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.

Author information

Author notes

  1. J Yang, R N Tamura, U M Uusitalo, C A Aronsson, K Silvis, A Riikonen, N Frank, G Joslowski, C Winkler, J M Norris and S M Virtanen: J M Norris and S M Virtanen: Co-senior authors.

  2. Members of the TEDDY Study Group are listed in the Supplementary File.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Informatics Institute, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    J Yang, R N Tamura & U M Uusitalo

  2. Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

    C A Aronsson

  3. Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA

    K Silvis

  4. National Institute for Health and Welfare, Nutrition Unit, Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    A Riikonen & S M Virtanen

  5. Faculty of Social Sciences/Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland,

    A Riikonen & S M Virtanen

  6. Center for Child Health Research, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

    A Riikonen & S M Virtanen

  7. Center for Child Health Research, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland,

    A Riikonen & S M Virtanen

  8. Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA

    N Frank

  9. Institute of Diabetes Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München and Forschergruppe Diabetes, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München and Forschergruppe Diabetes eV, Munich, Germany

    G Joslowski & C Winkler

  10. Department of Epidemiology, University of Colorado Denver, Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, USA

    J M Norris

  11. The Science Center of Pirkanmaa Hospital District, Tampere, Finland

    S M Virtanen

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  1. J Yang
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on behalf of the TEDDY Study Group

Corresponding author

Correspondence to J Yang.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on European Journal of Clinical Nutrition website

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Yang, J., Tamura, R., Uusitalo, U. et al. Vitamin D and probiotics supplement use in young children with genetic risk for type 1 diabetes. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 1449–1454 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2017.140

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