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Abstract
Background: Maternal vitamin D status in pregnancy is linked to foetal growth and may impact infant growth.
Aim: This study examined the association between maternal vitamin D status and infant anthropometry.
Subjects and methods: Data came from n = 2473 mother–child pairs from the 12-site US Collaborative Perinatal Project (1959–1965). Maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was measured at ≤ 26 weeks gestation. Multivariate-adjusted linear mixed models were used to relate maternal vitamin D status to infant z-scores for length (LAZ), head circumference (HCZ), weight (WAZ) and BMI (BMIZ), measured at birth and 4, 8 and 12 months.
Results: Infants with maternal 25(OH)D ≥30 nmol/L vs <30 nmol/L had LAZ and HCZ measures 0.13 (95% CI = 0.03–0.23) and 0.20 (95% CI = 0.11–0.28) units higher, respectively, across the first year of life. Similar differences in WAZ and BMIZ at birth were resolved by 12 months of age due to interactions indicating steeper age slopes in infants with maternal 25(OH)D <30 nmol/L.
Conclusion: Low maternal vitamin D status was associated with deficits at birth in infant weight and BMI that were recouped across the first year of life; associations with reduced measures of linear and skeletal growth were sustained from birth to 12 months.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Nandita Perumal for assistance with calculating z-scores and writing analysis code.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. Funding support came from NIH/NICHD grant R01 HD056999.
Dr Gernand’s research is supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under BIRCWH award number K12HD055882, ‘Career Development Program in Women’s Health Research at Penn State’. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.