SynthesisOsteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA2023
The effect of pregnancy vitamin D supplementation on offspring bone mineral density in childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vitamin D supplementation for women during pregnancy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Pregnancy vitamin D supplementation and bone mineral density of the mother: a post hoc analysis of the MAVIDOS randomised placebo-controlled trial.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2025Trial
- Pregnancy vitamin D supplementation and offspring bone mineral density in childhood follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Trial
- Maternal Exercise and Nutrition Function as Interconnected Regulators of Embryonic Organogenesis and Fetal Development.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Vitamin D status and intake in early school-aged children is tracking from pregnancy-the Swedish GraviD-Child study.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Adherence to vitamin and dietary supplement intake in fertility and pregnancy care: insights into knowledge, information satisfaction, and formulation variability.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2026Article
- Identification of Priority Nutrients in the US: Targeting Malnutrition to Address Diet-Related Disease Across the Lifespan.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Vitamin D Supplementation During Pregnancy and Maternal and Neonatal Vitamin D Status at ≤32 Weeks Gestation: Romanian Prospective Observational Cohort Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Vitamin D: What We Know and What We Still Do Not Know About Vitamin D in Preterm Infants-A Literature Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Disorders of bone and mineral metabolism in pregnancy and lactation: A case based clinical review.Osteoporosis and sarcopenia · 2025Review
- International expert consensus on micronutrient supplement use during the early life course.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Molecular pathways in placental-fetal development and disruption.Molecular and cellular endocrinology · 2024Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of moderate- to high-dose vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy on offspring bone mineralisation found a positive effect of vitamin D supplementation on offspring bone mineral density (BMD) at age 4-6 years, with a smaller effect on bone mineral content. PURPOSE: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to assess the effect of pregnancy vitamin D supplementation on offspring bone mineral density (BMD) in childhood.
methodsA literature search was conducted for published RCTs of antenatal vitamin D supplementation with assessment of offspring BMD or bone mineral content (BMC) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) using MEDLINE and EMBASE up to 13th July 2022. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool. Study findings were grouped in two age groups of offspring assessment: neonatal period and early childhood (3-6 years). Random-effects meta-analysis of the effect on BMC/BMD at 3-6 years was performed using RevMan 5.4.1, yielding standardised mean difference (SMD) (95% CI).
resultsFive RCTs were identified with offspring assessment of BMD or BMC; 3250 women were randomised within these studies. Risk of bias was low in 2 studies and "of concern" in 3. Supplementation regimes and the control used (3 studies used placebo and 2 used 400 IU/day cholecalciferol) varied, but in all studies the intervention increased maternal 25-hydroxvitamin D status compared to the control group. Two trials assessing BMD in the neonatal period (total n = 690) found no difference between groups, but meta-analysis was not performed as one trial represented 96.4% of those studied at this age. Three trials assessed offspring whole-body-less-head BMD at age 4-6 years. BMD was higher in children born to mothers supplemented with vitamin D [0.16 SD (95% confidence interval 0.05, 0.27), n = 1358] with a smaller effect on BMC [0.07 SD (95% CI - 0.04, 0.19), n = 1351].
conclusionsThere are few RCTs published to address this question, and these are inconsistent in methodology and findings. However, meta-analysis of three trials suggests moderate- to high-dose vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy might increase offspring BMD in early childhood, but further trials are required to confirm this finding. (Prospero CRD42021288682; no funding received).
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.