What’s New in Mother-Infant Vitamin D Deficiency: A 21st Century Perspective

Vitamin D is a prohormone and humans depend mostly on its endogenous production to meet the body’s requirement. It is usually regarded as essential for calcium and phosphorus homeostasis and bone mineralization. There is increasing interest in vitamin D because it is now recognized that it has several other physiological functions and its deficiency has been associated with multiple adverse health conditions including autoimmune diseases, certain common cancers, infections and cardiovascular diseases. This perspective provides a brief description of the current knowledge about vitamin D metabolism and functions, addresses various health issues associated with vitamin D status especially in women and children, and discusses new strategies for prevention of vitamin D deficiency in mothers and their infants.