Dr. Nicklas Brustad from Copenhagen University Hospital reports that women who took high doses of these supplements during pregnancy reduced the future risk of their children developing croup by up to 40%. Croup is a chest infection that is common in young children. Although most cases are mild, some infants may need hospitalization and mechanical support to breathe. Common symptoms of the disease are a barking cough, hoarse voice and breathing problems. “There is currently no vaccine against the pathogen that causes this disease. Therefore, other preventive strategies are needed and measures initiated during pregnancy may be important, since croup occurs in infants and young children. To that end, there is evidence that both vitamin D and fish oil could have an effect on the immune system,” says Dr. Brustad in a press release.
How Much Vitamin D Should Pregnant Women Get?
The study followed 736 pregnant women, recruited from the Copenhagen Prospective Studies of Childhood Asthma in 2010. The researchers divided the mothers-to-be into four groups, one receiving a high-dose vitamin D supplement (2800 international units daily) and fish oil containing long-chain n-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (2.4 grams). The second group received a high dose of vitamin D and olive oil, while the third group received a standard dose of vitamin D (400 international units) and fish oil, and the final group received a standard dose and olive oil. All these women continued to take the supplements from the 24th week of their pregnancy until the week after delivery. The groups did not know the amount of vitamin D, fish oil or olive oil they were taking. The researchers also followed the children until their third birthday. A doctor officially diagnosed any child who might have been experiencing symptoms of croup throughout this period. In total, there were 97 cases of croup during the study. The results reveal that children whose mothers took high doses of vitamin D daily during pregnancy had an 11% risk of developing croup after birth. That risk rose to 18 percent if the child’s mother only took standard doses — a 40 percent difference. Meanwhile, children whose mothers took fish oil supplements also had an 11 percent risk of croup. Those whose mothers took olive oil had a 17 percent risk, a difference of 38 percent. “Our findings suggest that vitamin D and fish oil could be beneficial against childhood croup at high enough doses. These are relatively inexpensive supplements which means this could be a very cost-effective approach to improving the health of young children,” says Dr. Brustad. “We are not sure of the exact mechanisms behind the beneficial effects of vitamin D and fish oil, but they may stimulate the immune system to help babies and young children clear infections more effectively.” “We know that lung health in babies and young children can be affected during pregnancy. For example, babies whose mothers smoke tend to have worse lung health. We increasingly see that elements of the mother’s diet can also help or hinder the baby’s lung development,” adds Professor Rory Morty from the University of Heidelberg and chair of the European Respiratory Society’s lung and airway developmental biology group. . “This research shows that taking vitamin D and fish oil supplements during pregnancy could have benefits for babies and young children. We would like to see further research in this area to support these findings, as this could lead to new recommendations for supplementation during pregnancy. Pregnant women should always talk to their doctor before taking supplements.” Professor Morty was not involved in the research. Dr. Brustad presented the findings at the International Conference of the European Respiratory Society.
