Low Prevalence of Vitamin D Insufficiency among Nepalese Infants Despite High Prevalence of Vitamin D Insufficiency among Their Mothers
Nutrients 2016, 8(12), 825; doi:10.3390/nu8120825 (registering DOI)
Johanne Haugen 1,2,* , Manjeswori Ulak 3, Ram K. Chandyo 3, Sigrun Henjum 4, Andrew L. Thorne-Lyman 5,6,7, Per Magne Ueland 8,9, Øivind Midtun 8,9, Prakash S. Shrestha 3 and Tor A. Strand 1,2,10
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vitamin D: Current Issues and New Perspectives)
- Nepal has 300 sunny days a year and no cultural avoidance of the sun
- Only 3.6% of 4 month-old infants had < 20 ng of vitamin D (vs 60% of mothers)
- The study ignored vitamin D produced by the sun
- 'Note by VitaminDWiki: At 27 degrees latitude and 1400 meter elevation Napelse infants can get lots of UV
- 'Note by VitaminDWiki: Many dark-skinned women avoid the sun or even apply skin lighteners
- Vitamin D tests were made 4-9 months after birth, when mother still had low levels due to pregnancy but infant had some sunbathing
See clip at bottom of the page from discussion section
See also VitaminDWiki
Items in both categories Infant-Child and Noontime sun are listed here:
- Dark-skinned infants got minimal vitamin D from 4 minutes sunbathing daily – RCT Nov 2022
- Polish children need 45 minutes of noon sun to get 800 IU of Vitamin D – July 2020
- Prisoners Get More Time Outdoors Than Children - Feb 2019
- Infant sunbathing 30 minutes a week raises vitamin D levels to only 20 ng in 6 months – Sept 2017
- Infants need more sun than 17 minutes per week on 6 percent of skin – Dec 2016
- Nepalese infants who sunbathe, etc. have much higher levels of vitamin D than their mothers – Dec 2016
- Sunlight for babies – US Govt 1933
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
Background: Describing vitamin D status and its predictors in various populations is important in order to target public health measures.
Objectives: To describe the status and predictors of vitamin D status in healthy Nepalese mothers and infants. Methods: 500 randomly selected Nepalese mother and infant pairs were included in a cross-sectional study. Plasma 25(OH)D concentrations were measured by LC-MS/MS and multiple linear regression analyses were used to identify predictors of vitamin D status.
Results: Among the infants, the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency (25(OH)D <50 nmol/L) and deficiency (<30 nmol/L) were 3.6% and 0.6%, respectively, in contrast to 59.8% and 14.0% among their mothers. Infant 25(OH)D concentrations were negatively associated with infant age and positively associated with maternal vitamin D status and body mass index (BMI), explaining 22% of the variability in 25(OH)D concentration. Global solar radiation, maternal age and BMI predicted maternal 25(OH)D concentration, explaining 9.7% of its variability.
Conclusion: Age and maternal vitamin D status are the main predictors of vitamin D status in infants in Bhaktapur, Nepal, who have adequate vitamin D status despite poor vitamin D status in their mothers.
From discussion section in PDF
“In some areas of Nepal there is a tradition of outdoor breastfeeding, with subsequent infant sun-exposure, and these habits have previously been thought to be associated with vitamin D status in Nepalese children [6]. Outdoor breastfeeding habits could be a possible explanation for the good vitamin D status in the infants. Additionally, the tradition in the Bhaktapur area of sunbathing the babies while massaging them in oil would also definitely contribute to the skin-synthesis of vitamin D3 in the infants. Sun-exposure was not precisely investigated, but differences in sun-exposure are a possible reason for vitamin D sufficiency among infants and insufficiency among the mothers.”
- Note by VitaminDWiki: Faster with with oiled skin' oil reduces reflectection/scattering and increased depth of penetration