Summary: Taking vitamin D during pregnancy helps boost babies' muscles, which in turn can help offset diabetes and fractures later in that child's life. So be sure you're getting the right amount of this important pregnancy nutrient... both by getting enough sunlight and by taking your prenatal supplement.
By Sharon Mazel | Posted: January 6, 2014
With so much baby bone building going on during pregnancy, ensuring that you're getting the right amount of vitamin D — essential for maintaining healthy teeth and bone structure as well as helping in the absorption of calcium — becomes especially important. But there's another reason to make sure you get enough of this vital nutrient when you're expecting. New research finds that children are likely to have stronger muscles if their moms had higher levels of vitamin D in their body during pregnancy.
Researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK measured the vitamin D levels of nearly 700 expectant moms during their last trimester of pregnancy. When the children born to the new moms were four years old, the researchers tested their grip strength and muscle mass. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that the higher the vitamin D levels in the expectant moms were, the higher the grip strength when the child was a preschooler. There was a less pronounced association between the mom's vitamin D levels and her child's muscle mass, but still enough to make a correlation between two.
The researchers believe that children with greater muscle strength will eventually become adults with greater strength and ultimately be less likely to become frail as they age. "Muscle strength peaks in young adulthood before declining in older age and low grip strength in adulthood has been associated with poor health outcomes including diabetes, falls, and fractures," the lead author writes. "It is likely that the greater muscle strength observed at four years of age in children born to mothers with higher vitamin D levels will track into adulthood, and so potentially help to reduce the burden of illness associated with loss of muscle mass in old age."
Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin because the body produces it when exposed to sunlight. But it's hard for the body to manufacture enough vitamin D — especially for those who have darker skin, live in less-sunny climates, don't get outdoors enough, or who wear sunscreen.
Unfortunately, the vitamin isn't found in many foods either. Fortified milk and juices contain some of this vital vitamin. Sardines and egg yolks also contain vitamin D, but no food or amount of food can come close to even the recommended amounts — which is why the only practical way to consume enough vitamin D is through supplements.
Current guidelines recommend that pregnant women consume 600 IU of vitamin D daily, though most experts agree that getting up to 1,000 to 2,000 IU of this important vitamin is safe during pregnancy. Speak to your prenatal practitioner to find out whether you should be taking a vitamin D supplement on top of your prenatal vitamin.
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