A study by Finnish researchers suggests that supplementing with more than the recommended daily dose of vitamin D3 during the first few years of life may reduce the risk of psychiatric symptoms later in life.
A Finnish study found that taking vitamin D3 in excess of recommended doses during childhood may reduce psychotic symptoms later in life. Children who received three times the standard dose of vitamin D had fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety and withdrawn behavior than those who received the standard dose. The study cautions that further research is needed to confirm these findings.
It is estimated that one in eight children suffers from a mental health disorder. Several factors have been identified that predict psychological problems in children, but many remain unexplained. Previous research suggests that low vitamin D levels in early childhood may be one of the factors that increases the risk of later mental health problems. A recent Finnish study provides new information about the link between vitamin D intake and mental health.
A new study by a team of Finnish researchers investigated whether taking daily vitamin D3 supplements above the recommended dose during early childhood reduces the risk of school-age psychotic symptoms.
This research Vitamin D interventions in infants (VIDI) clinical trials. To investigate how early vitamin D3 intervention affects child growth and development. In the study, children were randomly divided into two groups, one receiving the standard daily dose of 10 micrograms of vitamin D and the other receiving three times that amount, 30 micrograms. of vitamin D. Children received the supplement daily from 2 weeks of age to 2 years of age.
Children were followed and the most recent monitoring point occurred when they were 6 to 8 years old. In the latest follow-up phase, parents of 346 children used questionnaires to assess their children’s psychiatric symptoms.
The study found that daily vitamin D3 supplementation above the standard dose reduced the risk of internalizing problems during school age. In other words, children who received the high dose had less parent-reported depressed mood, anxiety, and withdrawal behavior than children who received the standard dose.
Parent-reported psychiatric symptoms
According to the study results, parents reported clinically significant internalization problems in 11.8% of children who took a standard dose of 10 μg daily vitamin D supplement until age 2 years. Among children receiving triple vitamin D supplements, 5.6% reported having similar problems.
“Our results suggest that high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation in the first few years of life may reduce the risk of internalizing psychotic symptoms in the late preschool and early school years.” Postdoctoral Fellow at Tampere University Samuel Sandboj said:
“While the results and their potential implications are intriguing, further research is needed to confirm the results. In interpreting the results, it should be noted, inter alia, that only parent-reported psychiatric symptoms were studied. In addition, study participants were children of Finnish Nordic ancestry who had good levels of vitamin D,” Sandboj emphasizes.
The researchers detected no differences in externalizing problems such as aggressive behavior or rule-breaking. Furthermore, no differences were found in the overall degree of psychotic symptoms in children.
The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of Tampere, Helsinki University Hospital, the University of Helsinki and the National Institute of Health and Human Services (THL). The University of Tampere contribution was made in the research group of Kati Heinonen, Associate Professor of Developmental Psychology at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Samuel Sandboj is a general medicine and rheumatology physician and MD.
The research results were published in a scientific journal DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.14319
