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Updated: Feb 26, 2026
Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
Prenatal Vitamin D Intake, Cord Blood 25-Hydroxyvitamin D, and Offspring Body Composition: The Healthy Start Study
Katherine A Sauder1, Hallie J Koeppen2, Allison L B Shapiro3
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. katherine.sauder@ucdenver.edu.
Insights
Prenatal vitamin D levels are linked to newborn body size and fat. Higher vitamin D was associated with lower birth weight and adiposity, but this relationship changed with maternal body mass index (BMI).
Area of Science:
- Maternal and child health
- Nutritional science
- Pediatric endocrinology
Background:
- Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is a potential risk factor for offspring adiposity.
- Existing human studies on this association remain inconclusive.
- Understanding early-life vitamin D status is crucial for infant development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between prenatal vitamin D intake and cord blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels.
- To examine the association of prenatal vitamin D status with offspring size and body composition at birth and 5 months.
- To explore the influence of maternal factors, such as BMI, on these associations.
Main Methods:
- Prospective cohort study (Healthy Start) involving 605 mother-offspring dyads.
- Assessment of prenatal vitamin D intake via diet recalls and questionnaires.
- Measurement of offspring body composition using air displacement plethysmography at birth and 5 months.
- Statistical analysis using general linear models, adjusting for key covariates.
Main Results:
- Higher prenatal vitamin D intake and higher cord blood 25(OH)D were associated with lower birthweight and neonatal adiposity.
- The association between cord blood 25(OH)D and birthweight was modified by maternal pre-pregnancy BMI.
- Cord blood 25(OH)D was not significantly associated with offspring size or body composition at 5 months of age.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal vitamin D exposure is associated with neonatal body size and composition.
- Maternal BMI plays a role in modulating the effects of prenatal vitamin D on birth outcomes.
- Further research is warranted to understand the long-term implications of early-life vitamin D status on child growth and development.
Abstract:
Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy may be associated with increased offspring adiposity, but evidence from human studies is inconclusive. We examined associations between prenatal vitamin D intake, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in cord blood, and offspring size and body composition at birth and 5 months. Participants included 605 mother-offspring dyads from the Healthy Start study, an ongoing, pre-birth prospective cohort study in Denver, Colorado, USA. Prenatal vitamin D intake was assessed with diet recalls and questionnaires, and offspring body composition was measured via air displacement plethysmography at birth and 5 months. General linear univariate models were used for analysis, adjusting for maternal age, race/ethnicity, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), offspring sex, and gestational age at birth. Non-Hispanic white race, lower pre-pregnancy BMI, higher prenatal vitamin D intake, and summer births were associated with higher cord blood 25(OH)D. Higher 25(OH)D was associated with lower birthweight (β = -6.22, p = 0.02), but as maternal BMI increased, this association became increasingly positive in direction and magnitude (β = 1.05, p = 0.04). Higher 25(OH)D was also associated with lower neonatal adiposity (β = -0.02, p < 0.05) but not after adjustment for maternal BMI (β = -0.01, p = 0.25). Cord blood 25(OH)D was not associated with offspring size or body composition at 5 months. Our data confirm the hypothesis that vitamin D exposure in early life is associated with neonatal body size and composition. Future research is needed to understand the implications of these associations as infants grow.
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