IT IS RECOMMENDED TO GIVE A VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENT TO ALL BABIES

The issue of vitamin D is one that has been treated for many years because some professionals insist that babies need a vitamin D supplement and others insist that they do not. In fact, the greatest controversy came because it was said that breast milk had low vitamin D and therefore breastfed children needed a supplement. As the greatest contribution of vitamin D in children comes from sunlight, there are many who have always said the same thing: breast milk does not lack vitamin D, what is missing is that children go out more to the street.

What happens is that this does not seem to happen. Breast milk has the vitamin D content that it must have for the normal life of humans, which is to live in this sunny world in which we live. However, nature should not expect us to live indoors, to move in cars with roofs, for children to study indoors and for children to put on cream three thousand times, avoiding vitamin D synthesis.

Come on, we have reached a point where Spanish children have a vitamin D deficit, and even though it is said that "take it out", "walk with him", etc., the data does not improve. In fact, it is even being seen that there is a deficit in vitamin D consumption due to food and in the end what has usually happened is happening: as the data does not improve, it is recommended to give a vitamin D supplement to all babies.

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The recommendation is throughout the country

I don't know if all the health centers are taking the measure anymore, but in the centers of my city we have been with it for more than a month. Many children already leave the hospital with the vitamin D prescription and those who do not go out with it, take the prescription in the CAP (Primary Care Center), in one of the first reviews. They are being made to all babies, and drink breast milk, and take a bottle. I comment this because artificial milk has a concentration of vitamin D higher than that of breast milk, but they must also drink it (the fact that it has a higher concentration is logical, manufacturers of baby formulas may decide to increase or decrease the amount of its nutrients in the recipe).

The causes of the deficit are diverse

The main source of vitamin D, as I said, is sunlight. Only with sun exposure does a child synthesize the 90% of vitamin D he needs, receiving the remaining 10% of the diet. Until our generation, which we spent the day on the street, it seems that vitamin D levels were always more or less correct. However, children now have a deficit due to the change in lifestyles (they don't play so much in the street anymore and many activities are done indoors), due to migratory changes and skin cancer prevention campaigns.

In reference to migratory changes, we must talk about skin color. If you look, the Nordics, who have little sun, have a very white skin color. This is so that the little sun they receive enters directly through the skin. If we talk about more central countries like France and Spain, we see that the skin color is somewhat darker than the Nordics, but we are still white. We have more sun than them. If we keep going down, we reach the equatorial zone, where people have even darker skin than us.

If we go down further, we reach the area of Africa, where people have black skin, because there is so much sun there that they have no vitamin D problems, but sunburn problems. Being black, they are protected from this. Now, if people with black skin travel to more Nordic areas, they have many numbers of living in vitamin D deficiency. Even if they go out, they will lack sun. Many African-American families have had children with rickets for this reason. And as it is currently relatively common to see people with different skin color everywhere, it is increasingly common to see more children with deficits.

If we add to this that the spring and summer campaigns begin the campaigns against skin cancer and we start to put cream on them, the picture gets worse. When the cream is greater than a factor of 8, it inhibits the synthesis of vitamin D by the skin by up to 95%. Normal that children lack.

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How much sun or how much light they have to receive

There is always talk about the daily walk, about taking the children to the street, about 15 minutes of direct sun or 20-30 minutes of daylight, without necessarily being direct sunlight. But of course, this is very relative. Are we talking about the sun of Andalusia or the sun of Cantabria? Are we talking about the midday sun or the six o'clock sun? Are we talking about people with light skin or people with darker skin? Do we talk about summer or winter? In the end it is all so variable, and the result so disappointing (most children have vitamin D deficiency) that it is recommended to supplement children with vitamin D.

To all?

Yes, to all babies at least up to six months because infants receive very little direct sun (they do not have to receive more, which can be burned) and those who drink bottles also because the concentration of vitamin D in artificial milk varies according to brand and in the first months do not take enough to reach daily recommendations. All babies are supplemented with 400 IU / day (6 drops of oily solutions) and as of the sixth month the recommendation is established in a more individualized way, according to customs, according to food, etc.

To be more exact, the recommendations are as follows:

Breastfed babies under one year of age receive a supplement of 400 IU / day of vitamin D. In case they end up drinking artificial milk they will continue with it until they take 1 liter daily of adapted formula enriched with vitamin D.
Babies who drink milk formula enriched with vitamin D, but do not reach the daily liter, will receive 400 IU / day until they reach 1 year.
Children over one year of age or adolescents who do not have risk factors for vitamin D deficiency (poor nutrition, dark skin, poor exposure to the sun due to custom or overcooked clothing, repeated use of sunscreen with a factor greater than 8, diseases chronic or treatments that alter the synthesis of vitamin D) and do not get 400 IU / day of vitamin D with food (a serving of cereals contains 40 IU, an egg yolk 40 IU, a liter of enriched milk) should also receive a supplement of 400 IU / day.
Premature children under one year of corrected age should take 200 IU / kg / day up to a maximum of 400 IU / day.

To those who have had a baby recently, Did they recommend a vitamin D supplement and gave you the recipe?