Assessment of Vitamin D Levels in Healthy Infants: A Cross-Sectional Survey Highlighting the Relationship of Vitamin D with Feeding Habits

Abstract

Objective: To know and assess the levels of Vitamin D in healthy infants without having the signs of  Vitamin D deficiency on radiological and clinical aspects.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried  out  at  Baqai  Medical  University  Hospital  Karachi. The sampling  technique  used  was  non-probability  consecutive.  Total  145  infants  were  included  in  this cross sectional study that were apparently healthy and  showed  no  features  of  Vitamin  D  defi-  ciency clinically and radiologically within the age of two to six month. Sample size calculated was 145. Infants on Vitamin D  supplementation,  with  renal,  hepatic  or  congenital  heart  disease,  gastrointesti-  nal problems, low birth weight and intrauterine growth retardation were excluded from the study.

Results: The feeding habits were breast  feeding,  formula  feeding  and  mixed  feeding  as  62  (72.7%), 41 (28.3%) and 42 (29%) respectively. Vitamin D level were defined in three categories in which 57   (39.3%) were deficient, 39 (27%) were insufficient and 49 (33.8%) were found to be sufficient. Vitamin         D levels were compared with weight to know the significance. It was discovered that Vitamins D and   weight had a significant association with p-value of 0.02. There was no difference observed in length      and Vitamin D levels with a p-value of 0.155 and OFC (occipital-frontal circumference) and Vitamin D    levels with p-value of 0.491.

Conclusion: Frequency of Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is quite common even in apparently healthy infants. The levels of Vitamin D in normal healthy infants of two to six month of age were defi-    cient. Furthermore, Vitamin D deficiency was related to the feeding habits of the infants. The infants           on breast feeding had sufficient Vitamin  D  levels  in  most  cases  whereas  it  was  deficient  in  formula and mixed feed of infants.