Vitamin D intake among US infants in the WIC program
What it found
Only 16% to 36% of infants in a US food assistance program met the daily vitamin D recommendation.
Just 6% to 12% received vitamin D drops.
What they found
Studies in people
Few infants met recommendations
Across all time points, only 16% to 36% of infants reached the recommended 10 mcg of vitamin D per day from food and supplements combined. By 13 months, about 35% were meeting this amount.
Supplement use was rare
Only 6% to 12% of participants reported giving their baby vitamin D drops. Among those who did use drops, 69% to 87% met the daily recommendation.
Breastfed versus formula-fed infants
Babies fed only formula were more likely to meet the recommendation than those fed only breast milk. Among breastfed babies without supplements, only 0% to 7% met the goal across all time points.
Formula alone often fell short
Even among babies fed only formula, just 16% to 43% met the vitamin D recommendation without taking extra supplements.
Factors linked to supplement use
Mothers born outside the USA were more likely to give vitamin D drops. Second-born and later-born babies were less likely to receive them compared to first-born babies.
What the authors conclude
- They note that most infants in the WIC program were not meeting the current vitamin D recommendation during the study period.
- The authors suggest that improving vitamin D intake will require coordinated efforts between the WIC program and other health care providers.
- They call for more research into why parents do not use vitamin D drops and whether these low intakes cause health problems.
How it was done
Breast milk is low in vitamin D, and babies get little sun exposure. Public health guidelines recommend that breastfed babies receive 10 mcg of vitamin D daily from birth.
Researchers looked at existing survey data from 3,398 infants in the US WIC food program between 2013 and 2015. Mothers reported everything their baby ate or drank, including supplements, over a 24-hour period at several points up to 13 months of age.
What it can’t tell you
- This study measured what babies ate and drank, not the actual vitamin D levels in their blood.
- It cannot show whether these low intakes led to vitamin D deficiency or health problems like rickets.
- The data were collected between 2013 and 2015, so they may not reflect current habits.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Intramural NIH HHS (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure: All authors have no conflicts of interest
- Authors work at
- University of Georgia, GA; National Institutes of Health, MD; George Mason University, VA
The paper
- Title
- Vitamin D Intake and Meeting Recommendations Among Infants Participating in WIC Nationally
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Gallo S, Gahche J, Kitsantas P, et al (2022). Vitamin D Intake and Meeting Recommendations Among Infants Participating in WIC Nationally. Journal of nutrition education and behavior. doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2021.11.009Free full textPubMed 35288058DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error