Abstract
Aim
To investigate predictors of compliance with the recommendation that all infants in Ireland are supplemented daily from birth to 12 months of age with 5 μg of vitamin D.
Subjects and methods
A prospective observational study was conducted. Self-complete questionnaires recorded socio-demographic characteristics, health behaviours and supplementation practices for 158 mother-infant dyads at 4, 9 and 12 months post-partum. A 2-day food diary was also obtained on 12-month-old infants to examine the contribution of diet to vitamin D intakes.
Results
At 4, 9 and 12 months of age, 57.6% (n = 91), 34.2% (n = 54) and 23.4% (n = 37) of infants, respectively, were supplemented as recommended. In multivariate analyses, receiving supplementation advice from health professionals in the early post-partum period was the most significant predictor of correctly supplementing 4-month-old [p < 0.01; odds ratio, OR: 61.94 (95% confidence interval, CI: 11.53–332.83)], 9-month-old [p < 0.01, OR: 10.30 (95% CI: 2.29–46.27)] and 12-month-old [p = 0.04, OR: 3.85 (95% CI: 1.05–14.08)] infants. Amongst 12 month olds, mean intakes from diet and supplementation combined (7.6 ± 4.7 μg/day) were suboptimal.
Conclusion
Suboptimal vitamin D supplementation practices were evident throughout infancy. Dietary intakes of vitamin D did not compensate for suboptimal supplementation practices. Supplementation practices may improve if health professionals advocate safe supplementation during routine infant health checks.
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Change history
06 February 2018
The authors wish to clarify that J.M. Kearney refers to John M. Kearney. The first name of this author was not clarified in the original article. The authors apologise for this error.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the mothers who participated in this study; their time was greatly appreciated.
Funding
The lead author was funded by a Dublin Institute of Technology Fiosraigh Scholarship. This scholarship was 50% funded by the Dublin Institute of Technology and 50% funded by Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committees and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
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The original version of this article was revised: The authors wish to clarify that J.M. Kearney refers to John M. Kearney. The first name of this author was not clarified in the original article. The authors apologise for this error.
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Bennett, A.E., Kearney, J.M. Predictors of vitamin D supplementation amongst infants in Ireland throughout the first year of life. J Public Health (Berl.) 26, 577–583 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0891-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0891-3