Vitamin D in the Newborn, Part II: Bases for Current Dietary Recommendations in Term and Preterm Neonates

Abstract

Since 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has published three documents related to vitamin D requirements of term and preterm infants. The need for developing and updating such guidelines emphasizes the importance of vitamin D not only as an essential element of bone health but also as a nutrient and prohormone that plays an increasingly recognized role in many other organ systems. It has also been implicated in the prevention of infections, allergies, autoimmune diseases, and some forms of cancer. In this article (the second part of a review of vitamin D in the neonate), we discuss the bases for current vitamin D dietary recommendations in term neonates and delineate the role of vitamin D deficiency in the pathogenesis of osteopenia of prematurity.