title: Maternal vitamin D3 supplementation during the third trimester of pregnancy: effects on infant growth in a longitudinal follow-up study in Bangladesh.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the effects of prenatal vitamin D supplementation on infant growth in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal follow-up of infants born at term or late preterm (≥34 weeks) to participants in a randomized double-blind trial of maternal third-trimester vitamin D3 (35 000 IU/wk; vitamin D ) vs placebo. Anthropometry was performed at birth, 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months of age. The primary analysis (n = 145 overall; n = 134 at 1 year) was a comparison of mean length-for-age z-score (LAZ) based on World Health Organization standards.
  
  
  RESULTS
  LAZ was similar between groups at birth, but 0.44 (95% CI, 0.06-0.82) higher in vitamin D vs placebo at 1 year, corresponding to a sex-adjusted increase of 1.1 cm (95% CI, 0.06-2.0). Mean change in LAZ from birth to 1 month was significantly greater in vitamin D (0.53 per month) vs placebo (0.19 per month; P = .004); but there was no significant divergence thereafter. In longitudinal (repeated-measures) analysis, average LAZ during infancy was 0.41 higher in vitamin D vs placebo (95% CI, 0.11-0.71, P = .01). Stunting was less common in vitamin D (17% of infants were ever stunted) vs placebo (31%; P = .049). Other anthropometric indices were similar between groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal vitamin D3 supplementation (35 000 IU/wk) during the third trimester of pregnancy enhanced early postnatal linear growth in a cohort of infants in Bangladesh.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Daniel E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: Nandita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Perumal
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al Mahmud
authors.forename: Abdullah H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Baqui
mesh_terms: D001459:Bangladesh; D002657:Child Development; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014815:Vitamins / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins; D002762:Cholecalciferol
keywords: 25(OH)D; 25-hydroxyvitamin D; AViDD; Antenatal vitamin D in Dhaka; HCAZ; Head circumference-for-age z-score; LAZ; Length-for-age z-score; PTH; Parathyroid hormone; WAZ; WFL; Weight-for-age z-score; Weight-for-length z-score