Babies and Vitamin D

Most babies should take vitamin D supplement, study indicates.
USA Today (3/23) reports that, according to a study published online March 22 in the journal Pediatrics, "most babies should take a daily vitamin D supplement." In fact, "only 1% to 13% of infants under one year now get a vitamin D supplement, available in inexpensive drops." The study said "those drops are needed...because only 5% to 37% of American infants met the standard for vitamin D set by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in 2008: 400 international units a day."
"CDC researchers analyzed data from a nationwide survey of infant feeding practices conducted between 2005 and 2007 to estimate how many babies were getting enough vitamin D in their diets during their first year of life," WebMD (3/22, Boyles) reported. The team found that "exclusively breastfed babies got the least vitamin D in their diets, followed by babies who drank both breast milk and formula. Babies who were exclusively formula-fed got the most vitamin D," but only about a third of those drank enough formula (approximately a liter) to get the amount of vitamin D recommended by the AAP.