(NaturalNews) A new study reveals an association between low vitamin D levels and respiratory problems in infants.

A groundbreaking study has now revealed how important vitamin D is for the immune system of the fetus and newborn. In a study published in the January 2011 issue of Pediatrics, the umbilical cord-blood level of vitamin D was evaluated at birth for 922 healthy newborns and these levels were compared to the incidence of respiratory infections, wheezing, and allergies over a 5 year period.

The researchers discovered that low levels of vitamin D in cord-blood were associated with a higher risk of respiratory infections during the first months after birth and a higher risk of wheezing episodes throughout early childhood (Camargo, 2011). Twenty percent of the newborns in this study had a cord-blood level that indicated a deficiency of vitamin D (less than 25 nmol/L), and these babies had more infections and wheezing than infants with higher vitamin D levels.

Four previous studies published between 2006 and 2009 showed that the babies of mothers who ate foods high in vitamin D or took vitamin D supplements during pregnancy had a decreased incidence of wheezing and/or asthma (Erkkola, 2000; Miyake, 2010). This new study was the first to test the vitamin D level at birth and associate it with the occurrence of respiratory symptoms.

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