Vitamin D Status and the Adequacy of Vitamin D Intake in Early Preterm Infants

Vitamin D is important for bone health. Deficiency of vitamin D is widespread and is associated with a variety of diseases. Preterm infants are susceptible osteopenia of prematurity (OP). Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to OP. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends a daily intake of 400 IU in order to achieve a serum concentration of 20 ng/ml of vitamin D. This recommendation presumes exposure to sunlight, the best source of vitamin D. Whether this level of intake or target serum concentration are achieved in early preterm infants is unknown. We hypothesize that because early preterm infants are sequestered in the Newborn Intensive Care Units for an extended period of time, they will be deficient in vitamin D and that the current nutritional intake may not be adequate in meeting the AAP recommendation. We assessed the concentration of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D in parturient mothers and in their newborns if they were less than 32 week gestation. We monitored vitamin D intake during hospitalization in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin-D at discharge.