Development fears for children of pregnant women with low Vitamin D

A lack of vitamin D in expectant mothers during pregnancy has a negative effect on the social and learning skills of pre-school children, according to new research.

The NHS recommends all pregnant and breastfeeding women take a daily supplement of vitamin D.

But a new study from the universities of Surrey and Bristol found a lack of vitamin D in pregnancy has a negative effect on the social development and motor skills of preschool age children.

Publishing in the British Journal of Nutrition, the team examined data from more than 7,000 mothers and their children.

They found pregnant women deficient in vitamin D (less than50nmolperlitreinblood) were more likely to have chil- 0 Pregnant women should take vitamin D supplement dren with low scores (in the bottom 25 per cent) in pre-school development tests than those whose mothers got enough.

The tests examined gross and fine motor development at age two-and-ahalf. They included kicking a ball, balancing and jumping and using fine motor skills to hold a pencil. Those women who did not get enough vitamin D in pregnancy also had children whose social development was regarded as poorer at age three-and-a-half.

However, there was no link between vitamin D intake and some skills at an older age, such as IQ and reading ability at ages seven and nine. Sunlight is the main source of vitamin D for most people, but experts are unable to say how much sun is the “right amount”, owing to differences in how people’s bodies convert vitamin D.

The vitamin is also found naturally in a small number of foods such as oily fish, red meat, liver and egg yolks, and is added to some breakfast cereals and spreads.

Experts believe vitamin D and dopamine, a neurotransmitter released by the brain, interact during foetal development, playing a role in the neurological development of brain areas controlling motor and social development.