Do Infants Need a Vitamin D Supplement?
Posted by Howie Friday October 9, 2009 Should nursing mothers supplement their breast milk with vitamin D for their infants? Kathleen Huggins, acclaimed breast feeding expert and author of The Nursing Mother’s Companion, discusses the issue in this essay: Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the intestinal tract and is essential for bone health. Infants and children are at risk for developing rickets, a painful bone softening disease when they get too little vitamin D. In addition to making strong bones, vitamin D also helps reduce future hip fractures as well as decreasing the risk of type 1 diabetes. Vitamin D is a vital part of the immune system and may improve immunity making babies less prone to infection. Vitamin D deficiency is also believed to be associated with multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Vitamin D, also known as the “sunshine” vitamin, is actually a hormone manufactured by the body from exposure of the skin to sunlight. Certain foods, such as for
