Vitamin D recommended for infants by 98% of Belgian pediatricians - 2024

Self-reported prescribing behaviour of vitamin D prophylaxis in healthy children by Belgian paediatricians

Eur J Clin Nutr. 2024 Jan 3. doi: 10.1038/s41430-023-01387-4
Charlotte De Crem 1, Myriam Van Winckel 2, Yvan Vandenplas 3, Anke Raaijmakers 4 5 6

There is currently no consensus on the guidelines for vitamin D prophylaxis in healthy children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prescribing behaviour of vitamin D prophylaxis among Belgian paediatricians. Between June and September 2022, a questionnaire was distributed by email to all Belgian paediatricians who are a member of at least one of three scientific or professional organisations, as well as to the heads of every Belgian paediatric or neonatal hospital ward. We analysed 426 completed questionnaires. All regions, age categories and subspecialties were represented.
Vitamin D prophylaxis is always or frequently recommended by 98% of paediatricians.
Fifty-eight per cent of paediatricians advise vitamin D prophylaxis up to the age of six years and 66% of paediatricians advise a daily dose of 400 IU.
In nearly every hospital in Belgium (96%), there is a specific protocol for vitamin D prophylaxis for newborns; but not for the paediatric unit (only 30%).
Nearly all Belgian paediatricians prescribe vitamin D prophylaxis to infants. Although not recommended by guidelines, 25(OH)D is frequently measured by paediatricians. Practices regarding duration and dosing of vitamin D prophylaxis show large variability. Most neonatal wards do have a protocol, whereas most paediatric wards do not.
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Unfortunately: only 400 IU for infants, and only 30% of Drs. recommend vitamin D for children

VitaminDWiki – Infant-Child category has 853 items and contains

Having a good level of vitamin D cuts in half the amount of:

Need even more IUs of vitamin D to get a good level if;

  • Have little vitamin D: premie, twin, mother did not get much sun access
  • Get little vitamin D: dark skin, little access to sun
  • Vitamin D is consumed faster than normal due to sickness
  • Older (need at least 100 IU/kilogram, far more if obese)
  • Not get any vitamin D from formula (breast fed) or (fortified) milk
    Note – formula does not even provide 400 IU of vitamin D daily

Infants-Children need Vitamin D

187+ VitaminDWiki Infant-child pages with INFANT etc. in title

This list is automatically updated

Items found: 189
Title Modified
Perhaps getting Vitamin D as infant decreases risk of Autoimmune Diseases as adult 22 Oct, 2024
Vitamin D and Omega-3 benefits to pregnancy and infants 28 Sep, 2024
Very preterm infants with low vitamin D are 4 X more likely to have retinal problems – Aug 2024 19 Aug, 2024
Infant respiratory distress reduced by Vitamin D – meta-analysis July 2024 03 Aug, 2024
Fathers taking antibiotics at time of conception had 3X higher infant deaths (mice – so far) – May 2024 04 May, 2024
Vitamin D recommended for infants by 98% of Belgian pediatricians - 2024 04 Jan, 2024
Monthly vitamin D dosing during lactation was great for infant and mother - April 2020 30 Nov, 2023
Anemia 8X more likely in infants if low vitamin D – Sept 2023 07 Sep, 2023
Vitamin D levels of breastfeeding mothers and infants in 3 cities – Feb 2015 29 Aug, 2023
Depressed infants have very low Vitamin D (7.5 ng) – June 2023 03 Jul, 2023
Infants getting an additional 800 IU of vitamin D for 2 years had 60% fewer psychiatric symptoms at age 7 – RCT May 2023 19 May, 2023
Response to infant 2,000 IU Vitamin D daily was in 194 ng, monthly dosing was 20% less – RCT May 2023 17 May, 2023
Infant should have fewer problems with air pollution if high maternal vitamin D – March 2023 19 Mar, 2023
Phototherapy to reduce infant Jaundice decreases Vitamin D, Mg, etc. Nov 2022 18 Nov, 2022
Dark-skinned infants got minimal vitamin D from 4 minutes sunbathing daily – RCT Nov 2022 16 Nov, 2022
Increase infant Vitamin D: forification, daily, weekly, monthly, breast milk - Review June 2022 07 Nov, 2022
Half of infants had less than 20 ng of Vitamin D with 800 IU (need more) – RCT Sept 2022 25 Aug, 2022
Faster growth in infants getting 1200 IU of Vitamin D – RCT July 2022 16 Jul, 2022
Breastfed Infants need more than an daily average of 800 IU of Vitamin D – RCT June 2022 21 Jun, 2022
2.4 X fewer lower respiratory track infections in infants getting 400 IU of Vitamin D – May 2022 24 May, 2022
Arab preterm infants often have less than 10 ng of vitamin D - 2010 15 May, 2022
Infant-Child 06 May, 2022
Dosing error gave 12000 IU daily vitamin D to infant, but no indication of any problem – April 2012 15 Apr, 2022
Vitamin D Toxicity with no long term problems starts at 300 ng (infant with 222 ng had no symptoms) – March 2022 10 Mar, 2022
Infants have gotten free 400 IU of vitamin D in Turkey since 2005, More for longer would be even better – Feb 2022 04 Feb, 2022
Severe infant caries 10X higher risk if low vitamin D (under 14 ng) - Dec 2021 14 Dec, 2021
Low Vitamin D in infants - video interview of Dr. Holick - May 2017 11 Dec, 2021
Additional Vitamin D not help – infants previously had 35 ng of vitamin D – RCT Sept 2021 18 Oct, 2021
Supplement preterm infants with vitamin D if less than 80 ng – RCT Sept 2021 28 Sep, 2021
Infants getting 800 IU more vitamin D daily got no neuro benefit (virtually all Fins were sufficient) – RCT Sept 2021 09 Sep, 2021
400 IU of Vitamin D helped breastfed infants, need more – RCT Sept 2021 01 Sep, 2021
36X more likely for an infant to be low vitamin D if exclusively breastfed (Hong Kong) – March 2021 26 Jul, 2021
Infant Respiratory Infections not reduced by mothers taking small amount of vitamin D (28,000 weekly)– RCT July 2021 03 Jul, 2021
Virtually all infants in Poland got 400 IU of Vitamin D daily (not enough, non-daily is better) – April 2021 29 Jun, 2021
Fewer pre-infants were vitamin D deficient when they got 800 IU – RCT Feb 2014 29 Jun, 2021
The 6 percent of infants hospitalized for ARI are 2.2 X more likely to be Vitamin D deficient – April 2021 02 Apr, 2021
Half the risk of Influenza -A in infants taking 1200 IU of vitamin D for 4 months – RCT Jan 2018 19 Mar, 2021
Less obese child if supplemented with Vitamin D as an infant– meta-analysis Feb 2021 05 Feb, 2021
Poor hip joint in infants associated with poor Vitamin D receptor – Jan 2021 31 Jan, 2021
Vitamin D for infants – 100,000 IU monthly is better than 400 IU daily – RCT Oct 2020 10 Jan, 2021
73 percent of US infants still do not even get 400 IU of Vitamin D - June 2020 05 Aug, 2020
Newborn Vitamin D - single 50,000 IU is better than daily – RCT Sept 2016 25 Jul, 2020
Infant and child immunity depends on Vitamin D and two Vitamin D genes – Review April 2020 27 Apr, 2020
Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Infants reduced 5.9 X by daily 600 IU of vitamin D (China) - March 2020 07 Mar, 2020
Germany raised Vitamin D RDA to 800 IU - helped infants, but not children (who need even more) – June 2019 23 Jan, 2020
Turkey needs to give Vitamin D to children too (infants get D for free) – June 2019 18 Dec, 2019
Romania joins Turkey in giving free Vitamin D to all infants – 2018 18 Dec, 2019
Infant 7.6 X more likely to be Vitamin D deficient if mother had been – Nov 2019 16 Dec, 2019
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found “paucity” of Vitamin D data for infants – Nov 2019 22 Nov, 2019
Infant Vitamin D doubles 6 months after birth (can double in 2 weeks)– Oct 2019 19 Oct, 2019
Extreme preterm infants helped somewhat by 800 IU of vitamin D – RCT Jan 2018 01 Oct, 2019
The more vitamin D the lower the infant BMI – March 2011 08 Sep, 2019
Newborn vitamin D level is often lower than maternal, this study says it is double – Aug 2019 08 Aug, 2019
3X fewer infant dental caries if good level of vitamin D while pregnant – April 2014 07 Aug, 2019
Allergic Rhinitis in infants treated by 1,000 IU vitamin D daily – June 2019 23 Jul, 2019
Infant Problem-Solving Skills Linked to Mother’s DHA Omega-3 Level During Pregnancy – April 2019 04 Jun, 2019
Risk of infant Asthma cut in half if mother supplemented Vitamin D to get more than 30 ng – RCT Oct 2017 12 Mar, 2019
Urinary Tract Infection in infants 5.6 X MORE likely if low Vitamin D, 3.3 X LESS likely if supplement – July 2016 02 Mar, 2019
Pregnant while black increases chance of death – mothers 3X, infants 2X (low Vitamin D) – Feb 2019 20 Feb, 2019
Infants 2X more likely to get schizophrenia if had very low vitamin D – Sept 2010 17 Feb, 2019
Turkey gave 400 IU vitamin D to all infants and reduced Rickets by 60X - 2011 07 Feb, 2019
Infants need 400 IU of vitamin D to prevent rickets – meta-analysis Feb 2019 05 Feb, 2019
CYP24A1 gene mutation is a cause of rare infant vitamin D toxicity – Aug 2011 31 Dec, 2018
Infants sometimes lack Oxygen – 1,000 IU Vitamin D daily helps – Dec 2018 07 Dec, 2018
Black infant recurrent wheezing rate dropped from 42 percent to 31 percent with just 400 IU of vitamin D – RCT Dec 2018 06 Dec, 2018
Immature lungs in immature newborns – Vitamin D helps – Sept 2018 27 Oct, 2018
Bronchiolitis had 1.3 X longer hospitalization if low Vitamin D (1016 infants) – Sept 2018 24 Sep, 2018
Infant Vitamin D – JAMA said 1600 IU, Europe says 1,000 IU upper limit – June 2018 11 Aug, 2018
Vitamin D during lactation – 6,000 IU mom or 400 IU infant (Hollis, Wagner chapter) – Aug 2018 09 Aug, 2018
Only 1 in 6 infants got even 400 IU of vitamin D daily – June 2018 18 Jul, 2018
400 IU of vitamin D for the mother gave only 1 in 340 infants sufficient vitamin D – Nov 2017 11 Jul, 2018
Very low birth weight infants were OK with 600 IU of vitamin D plus Calcium and Phosphorus – May 2018 09 May, 2018
UK infants are the least likely to get Vitamin D in Europe – political action overdue – April 2018 18 Apr, 2018
Saudi infants – 4 in 10 have low Vitamin D, 8 in 10 have low Calcium (hypocalcemia) – March 2018 18 Mar, 2018
Sepsis in infants 4.8 X more likely if poor vitamin D receptor – March 2018 14 Mar, 2018
Higher vitamin D levels during pregnancy resulted in less obese infants – March 2018 09 Mar, 2018
RSV (bronchitis and viral pneumonia) in infants associated with low vitamin D and antibiotics – Aug 2015 10 Jan, 2018
Rapid newborn breathing (transient tachypnea) associated with low vitamin D – Dec 2017 22 Dec, 2017
Breastfed infant bones not helped by 800 IU of Vitamin D (not enough) – RCT Dec 2017 12 Dec, 2017
Infant sunbathing 30 minutes a week raises vitamin D levels to only 20 ng in 6 months – Sept 2017 10 Nov, 2017
Less bad gut bacteria in infant if even tiny amount of vitamin D during pregnancy – Nov 2017 09 Nov, 2017
Obese moms who breastfeed (without Vitamin D) had low bone density in infants – Aug 2017 26 Oct, 2017
Give 400 IU to all infants – majority of Turkish pediatricians – Oct 2017 19 Oct, 2017
Large soft spot on infant’s head (anterior fontanelle) is associated with low vitamin D – Sept 2017 07 Oct, 2017
Respiratory infection in infant was 7 X more likely if low cord Vitamin D – March 2017 28 Sep, 2017
Mother got 100,000 IU of vitamin D monthly, breastfeeding infant got a little – RCT Aug 2016 13 Sep, 2017
Breast milk resulted in 20 ng of vitamin D for infant if mother had taken 5,000 IU daily – RCT Dec 2013 12 Sep, 2017
Infant infection reduced by half with vitamin D supplementation – RCT May 2016 26 Aug, 2017
Black infants far less likely to be breast-fed (wonder – culture or low Vitamin D) – Aug 2017 17 Aug, 2017
Infant sepsis strongly associated with low vitamin D – Aug 2014 16 Aug, 2017
Premature infants (30 weeks) who got 800-1000 IU of vitamin D were much healthier – March 2017 03 Aug, 2017
Infant Shudders, Shivers, Jitteriness etc can be early signs of low Vitamin D - Jan 2017 30 Jul, 2017
Poor motor development in infant was 40 percent more likely if low maternal vitamin D – July 2017 13 Jul, 2017
Infant-Child Vitamin D recommendations from NZ (many are wrong) – Feb 2017 13 Jul, 2017
Infant muscle development best with 400 IU of vitamin D (not 800) – Sept 2015 13 Jul, 2017
Vitamin D required for breastfed infants – daily or monthly, infant or mother – Jan 2017 20 May, 2017
Infants getting 1 g of Omega-3 for 12 weeks got better brains – RCT March 2017 18 Mar, 2017
Low Vitamin D during pregnancy or as infant causes health problems decades later – Jan 2016 17 Mar, 2017
Infant hospitalized after Vitamin D overdose (8,000 X too much) Feb 2016 27 Feb, 2017
Breastfeeding mother getting 6400 IU of Vitamin D is similar to infant getting 400 IU – RCT Sept 2015 25 Jan, 2017
Infant allergy to cow’s milk will go away if have high levels of vitamin D – Jan 2017 19 Jan, 2017
Infants have low levels of vitamin D – associations with phototherapy and miscarriage – Dec 2016 01 Jan, 2017
Nepalese infants who sunbathe, etc. have much higher levels of vitamin D than their mothers – Dec 2016 31 Dec, 2016
Rare infant vitamin D toxicity – due to errors which resulted in more that 240,000 IU – Jan 2014 07 Dec, 2016
Concern about accidentally giving infant too much liquid vitamin D – Aug 2012 07 Dec, 2016
Newborns with sepsis – 9 ng of vitamin D, without sepsis 19 ng – Aug 2015 30 Aug, 2016
Breastfed infants 6 times more likely to deficient in Vitamin D and Iron – Aug 2015 20 Jun, 2016
Breastfed infants: 90 percent had less than 20 ng of vitamin D, formula-fed: 15 percent – May 2013 20 Jun, 2016
Prevention of vitamin D deficiency in mothers and infants worldwide - a paradigm shift. – Feb 2012 06 May, 2016
Five times less mite allergy when vitamin D added in mid pregnancy and to infant – RCT April 2016 17 Apr, 2016
2000 IU vitamin D during pregnancy and 800 IU to infant resulted in less use of antibiotics – RCT April 2014 17 Apr, 2016
Extreme preterm infants need a total of 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily – RCT April 2016 13 Apr, 2016
Premature infants need 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D 13 Apr, 2016
Increasing amount of omega-3 in mother’s milk resulted in fewer infant allergies – March 2016 04 Apr, 2016
800 IU vitamin D for infant and 2000 IU for mother is good, not great – RCT Dec 2013 04 Apr, 2016
Infants getting up to 1600 IU did not increase blood level of vitamin D – RCT March 2016 13 Mar, 2016
Recommend 100 IU of vitamin D per kg of infant - Poland July 2011 04 Feb, 2016
Language understanding by infant is associated with vitamin D level during pregnancy – Dec 2015 02 Dec, 2015
All infants with small heads (less than 33 cm) were from mothers with low vitamin D levels – Sept 2015 02 Dec, 2015
Black infants had far lower vitamin D levels which did not vary with season – Jan 2013 26 Nov, 2015
Infant in ICU much more likely to die if low vitamin D – Nov 2015 21 Oct, 2015
Congestive heart failure in infants virtually cured by 1000 IU of vitamin D – RCT Feb 2012 20 Oct, 2015
Breastfed infants may get enough vitamin D (provided mom gets 6400 IU) - Oct 2015 07 Oct, 2015
Vitamin D levels in moms and infants are low and sometimes very low – Sept 2015 05 Oct, 2015
Omega-3 and infant development - dissertation Sept 2015 29 Sep, 2015
Infant positional skull deformation 7X more frequent if less than 400 IU of vitamin D – Nov 2014 27 Sep, 2015
Infant risk of obesity increased by 50 percent if low vitamin D during pregnancy – Sept 2015 15 Sep, 2015
Too much vitamin D: 1 pcnt increase in infants with food allergy, too little: 500 pcnt increase in children with food allergy - Aug 2015 16 Aug, 2015
High level of maternal vitamin D and infant food allergy – controversy 16 Aug, 2015
Infant psychomotor development has a U shaped relationship with vitamin D cord blood levels – April 2015 14 Aug, 2015
Infant vitamin D repleated with 200 IU ( if you consider 12 ng to be repletion) - July 2015 26 Jul, 2015
Breast-feeding mothers need 2000 IU of vitamin D to get infants to even 12 ng – July 2015 14 Jul, 2015
2,000 IU of vitamin D reduced schizophrenia chance by 77 percent (male infants) - 2004 01 Jun, 2015
Newborn acute lower respiratory tract infection associated with low maternal vitamin D – March 2015 20 Mar, 2015
Infants getting 1400 IU vitamin D weekly grew better – RCT May 2011 16 Mar, 2015
Newborns in sunny Jordan have very low Vitamin D (histogram) – Nov 2013 04 Mar, 2015
WHO says that infants not need vitamin D until 6 months and only 200 IU after - 2013 03 Feb, 2015
Lack of vitamin D in infants can result in broken bones and shaken baby syndrome - March 2010 18 Jan, 2015
Infants who have iron deficiency anemia are 4X more likely to be vitamin D deficient – March 2013 15 Dec, 2014
Dark skinned children were vitamin D deficient in Italy (not infants) – Nov 2014 16 Nov, 2014
75 percent of unexplained sudden infant deaths had inadequate level of vitamin D – April 2013 11 Nov, 2014
Immune System response of infants is associated with higher levels of vitamin D – RCT Nov 2014 08 Nov, 2014
Respiratory Tract Infection visits 2.5 less likely with vitamin D: Pregnancy 2000 IU, Infant 800 IU – RCT Oct 2014 04 Oct, 2014
Unsupplemented infants were 19X more likely to be vitamin D deficient - May 2012 28 Aug, 2014
16% of exclusively breastfed infants so low on vitamin D that they had rickets – June 2010 28 Aug, 2014
Breastfed without vitamin D supplements – a problem for NZ infants Jan 2013 28 Aug, 2014
Preterm infants, kidney, rickets and vitamin D intake: is it time for rewriting the history – Aug 2014 26 Aug, 2014
Mother and father on trial for infant death – set free – death was due to rickets – Dec 2011 18 Aug, 2014
Your vitamin D deficient infant could be taken away from you – Council Sept 2010 18 Aug, 2014
Third study found that Infants needed 1600 IU of vitamin D – JAMA RCT May 2013 11 Aug, 2014
Infants do not tolerate some brands of Vitamin D – additives, color, etc 06 Aug, 2014
Hypothesis: recent increases in flat-headed infants is due to low vitamin D – July 2013 02 May, 2014
300 IU is not enough vitamin D for preterm infants – March 2014 22 Apr, 2014
Family Medicine vitamin D survey: 400 IU for infants, but many prefer supplementing mom – April 2014 15 Apr, 2014
Rickets in 30 percent of infants in India who had low vitamin D – March 2011 22 Feb, 2014
Most European infants get vitamin D supplements, vs only 1 in 50 in US – June 2013 26 Nov, 2013
1600 IU vitamin D safe for infants – RCT Nov 2102 22 Nov, 2013
Mothers and infants in India have very low levels of vitamin D – April 2012 12 Nov, 2013
90 percent of Indian mothers and infants had less than 20 ng of vitamin D – May 2011 12 Nov, 2013
400 IU of vitamin D for infants is good, 200 IU is not enough – RCT April 2013 21 Jul, 2013
Infants in France and Finland need 1000 IU of vitamin D, but apparently infants in US need only 400 - 2013 14 Jul, 2013
Infants again said to need more than 400 IU of vitamin D – Sept 2012 09 Jul, 2013
Breastfed Infants in Iowa got very little vitamin D, especially if winter or dark skin – July 2013 05 Jul, 2013
Only about 10 percent of breastfed infants get even the minimum recommended vitamin D – April 2010 26 Jun, 2013
Took 4 months of 400 IU vitamin D for Iranian infants to get serum level of 30 ng – June 2013 24 Jun, 2013
Largest cause of infant deaths is respiratory infections, which is associated with low vitamin D – April 2011 23 Jun, 2013
Infants receiving 1600 IU of vitamin D were safe and healthy – RCT Aug 2012 01 Jun, 2013
Vitamin D3 far better than D2 at raising infant vitamin D blood levels – Dec 2012 01 Jun, 2013
Many infant infections avoided with supplementation with 400 IU of vitamin D – Oct 2012 23 May, 2013
Obese mothers with adequate vitamin D gave birth to low D and fat infants – Jan 2013 12 Mar, 2013
93% of newborns of military in Hawaii had low vitamin D – March 2013 05 Mar, 2013
Osteopenia in preterm infants – May 2012 27 Dec, 2012
Almost all newborns in India have less than 20 ng of vitamin D – Nov 2012 10 Dec, 2012
Reminder – 400 IU is enough only when infant already had a good level of vitamin D – Nov 2012 08 Nov, 2012
Infants born early had low vitamin D levels – Oct 2012 30 Oct, 2012
Breastfed infants in Germany with 250 IU of vitamin D got to 56ng – Sept 2010 04 Sep, 2012
830 IU vitamin D (50000 bi-monthly) helped infants – May 2010 31 Aug, 2012
Infants getting 500 IU achieved 60 ng vitamin D in blood – Jan 2011 30 Aug, 2012
Most mothers still do not supplement infants with vitamin D – July 2010 24 Aug, 2012
400 IU vitamin D daily got most infants above 20 ng – Jan 2011 24 Aug, 2012
400 IU vitamin D for infants and 2000 IU during pregnancy if high risk – June 2010 25 Jun, 2012
FDA warns against over 400 IU vitamin D for infants, especially with droppers - June 2010 25 Jun, 2012
Infants in Montreal at risk of rickets – telephone survey June 2010 25 Jun, 2012
Vitamin D in the Infant: Requirements for Safety 2006 25 Jun, 2012
Infants given 400 800 and 1200 IU of vit D all had increased blood levels April 2010 25 Jun, 2012
200 IU vitamin D daily not enough to change infant mortality – May 2011 25 Jun, 2012
Majority of infant seizures in India due to lack of vitamin D - July 2010 25 Jun, 2012
Intervention of 400 IU of vitamin D raised infant blood levels 14 ng – Jan 2012 23 Jun, 2012
Like their diabetic mothers, infants had low vitamin D and were slightly diabetic – May 2012 23 Jun, 2012

1250 visitors, last modified 07 Feb, 2024,
Printer Friendly Follow this page for updates