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BACKGROUND: Public Health England advises 400 IU/day vitamin D supplementation for children over 1 year. Commercially available children's multivitamin and vitamin D supplements were surveyed to determine the vitamin D content. METHODS: Multivitamins and vitamin D supplements marketed at children <12 years and sold by nine UK supermarkets and health supplement retailers were surveyed. Vitamin D content was determined from manufacturer's websites and product packaging. RESULTS: 67 multivitamins were surveyed, containing 0-800 IU/day vitamin D. Only 25%-36%, depending on the child's age, provided ≥400 IU/day vitamin D. Supplements containing only vitamin D or labelled as for 'healthy bones' typically had higher vitamin D content (57%-67% contained ≥400 IU/day). CONCLUSIONS: Few multivitamin products supply the recommended 400 IU/day vitamin D. Clinicians need to be aware of this when recommending vitamin D supplementation and advise parents/carers to choose a product that contains ≥400 IU/day vitamin D.

Original publication

DOI

10.1136/archdischild-2018-316339

Type

Journal article

Journal

Arch dis child

Publication Date

25/02/2019

Keywords

Vitamin D, dietary supplementation, multivitamin, rickets