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Abstract

Background:Due to its positive impact on child survival, there are international initiatives to promote breastfeeding as the best nourishment for infants up to six months of age. The present study was conducted to study the serum vitamin D levels in exclusively breastfed babies and their mothers.
Materials & Methods:58 healthy infants born at term who were exclusively breast fed from age group 3-6 months of both genders were selected. A completely automated chemiluminescence immunological test was used to measure the serum vitamin D content. The vitamin D status was categorized as follows- Severe deficiency <5 ng/ml, deficiency <15 ng/ml, insufficiency 15-20 ng/ml, sufficiency 20-100 ng/ml, excess >100 ng/ml and intoxication >150 ng/ml. Nutritional status was assessed using WHO growth charts.
Results:Age group 3-4 months had 6 males and 5 females, 4-5 months had 10 males and 11 females and 5-6 months had 14 males and 12 females. The difference was non- significant (P> 0.05). Nutritional status of babies was <3rd percentile in 5 and 3rd- 97th percentile in 53 subjects. The difference was significant (P< 0.05).Vitamin D levels in 10 babies was 9.1 ng/ml, in 16 babies was 17.3 ng/ml and in 32 babies was 32.4 ng/ml. In 11 mothers was 12.6 ng/ml, in 18 mothers was 17.4 ng/ml and in 29 mothers was 29.7 ng/ml. The difference was non- significant (P> 0.05). The mean Vit D levels in babies with age group 3-4 months was 26.4 ng/ml, in 4-5 months was 26.3 ng/ml and in 5-6 months was 24.5 ng/ml. The difference was non- significant (P> 0.05).
Conclusion: Breastfeeding may be a contributing factor if the baby does not receive enough sunshine for endogenous vitamin D production and if the mother's vitamin D levels are low, resulting in a decreased amount of vitamin D being transferred to the baby through breast milk..