Neurodevelopmental Status of Offspring of Women Who Received Vitamin D Supplementation

In observational analyses, high maternal vitamin D levels have been associated with improved neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring. Danish investigators used data from a large vitamin D₃ study to assess the benefit of daily high-dose (2400 IU) vs. standard supplementation (400 IU) in 638 pregnant women.

Participants received standard vitamin D₃ supplementation throughout their pregnancies and then were randomized to additional high-dose supplementation or placebo at 24 weeks' gestation. More than 550 newborns were followed regularly to age 6 years. On a wide range of assessments, offspring of women in the intervention and control groups showed no differences in motor, language, cognitive, emotional, or behavioral development.