According to a new research, newborn babies need more Vitamin D. Scientists claim infants who are breastfed, particularly those who live far from the equator, need more Vitamin D. It appears that breast milk doesn’t have enough Vitamin D, especially for people who live in northern parts of the world. In northern parts of the world, Canada included, where mothers don’t get as much sunlight.

The Canadian Pediatric Society explained that babies who are breastfed should take Vitamin D supplements every day of the first year of life. Jonathon Maguire, pediatrician and researcher at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, conducted a study on Vitamin D levels in children aged 1 to 5 years. For the study, 2, 500 healthy children were involved. Experts analyzed how long children were breastfed as well as their Vitamin D intake.

The results showed half of the children were breastfed for 10 months. Also, 53 percent of them were given Vitamin D supplements. For children whose breastfeeding period was longer, Vitamin D levels were lower. Researchers claimed that the risk of Vitamin D deficiency increased by 6 percent for each month that babies were breastfed after they were 1. By age 2, they showed a 16 percent possibility of having deficiencies.

By age 3 the data showed a 29 percent risk of Vitamin D deficiency. Jonathon Maguire claimed:

“The longer the child breastfeeds beyond a year of age, the lower the vitamin D levels go. Children who are receiving vitamin D supplementation and breastfed over a year of age don’t have that decline in Vitamin D levels”.

Moreover, Maguire said there is nothing wrong with breast milk. He emphasized it’s a necessary nutrient. However, it doesn’t contain enough Vitamin D, especially in mothers from northern parts of the world. Vitamin D deficiency can cause fatigue or impaired immune function. What’s more, in some cases Vitamin D levels are so low, that bone structure suffers massive changes.

The World Health Organization recommends mothers to breastfeed their babies for up to two years if there aren’t any problems. Nonetheless, mothers ought to give their children Vitamin D supplements on a daily basis at least in the first year of their life. Based on the fact that newborn babies need more Vitamin D, researchers claim that now mothers can take extra care of their infant, providing him all the vitamins he needs.

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