Effect of Oral Daily Supplementation With 400 IU Vs 200 IU of Vitamin D in Term Healthy Neonates
Effect of Oral Daily Supplementation With 400 IU Vs 200 IU of Vitamin D in Term Healthy Neonates
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of daily oral supplementation with vitamin
 D on serum Vitamin D levels in term healthy newborns. It has been found in various studies
 that vitamin D is highly deficient in Indian mother infant diads. There is a need to
 supplement vitamin D from neonatal period to prevent various metabolic disturbances due to
 vitamin D deficiency in later life. This study aims to find the effectiveness and the optimum
 dose of routine vitamin D supplementation in healthy term newborns for fulfilling the normal
 requirements in Indian infants.
Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in India as reported in various studies. Vitamin D
 supplementation is necessary as vitamin D is required not only for prevention of rickets as
 traditionally thought, but also for its emerging role in development of diseases such as
 myopathic disorders, proneness to infection, autoimmune disorders and cancers .However
 supplementation studies are limited and predominantly from foreign countries. Moreover most
 of them report variable outcomes with no unanimous outcome with respect to optimum dose and
 duration of supplementation of vitamin D. Various national authorities recommend different
 doses of vitamin D for supplementation. American Academy of Pediatrics, The Institute of
 Medicine of National Academics, The Drug and Therapeutics Committee of the Lawson Wilkins
 Pediatric Endocrine Society, the Canadian Pediatric Society and European Society for
 Pediatric Endocrinology recommend that 400IU of vitamin D should be supplemented in all
 infants starting from within a few days of birth throughout childhood. ESPGHAN recommends
 800-1000 IU for high risk infants, Ireland recommends 200IU vitamin D per day, UK does not
 recommend any supplements upto 6 months of age , however if formula milk intake <500ml/day
 then 300 IU is recommended. There are no such guidelines for India. Hence this study aims at
 evaluating the proportion of vitamin D deficient
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Gestation > 37 weeks

 -  Birth weight >2.5 kg

 -  Informed consent of one of the parents

 -  Place of residence<10km

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Presence of gross congenital malformation

 -  Need of resuscitation at birth

 -  Need for admission to neonatal ICU

 -  Refusal of consent