Study urges vitamin D supplement for infants

[Celebration]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-03-22-vitamind22_ST_N.htm

Most babies should take a daily vitamin D supplement, a new study shows.

That will be a big change for most parents — and even many pediatricians.

Only 1% to 13% of infants under 1 year now get a vitamin D supplement, available in inexpensive drops, according to a study published online today in Pediatrics.

Those drops are needed, the study says, because only 5% to 37% of American infants met the standard for vitamin D set by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2008: 400 international units a day.

Vitamin D strengthens bone and the immune system and also appears to prevent type 1 diabetes, heart disease and cancer, the paper says.