Inadequate vitamin D intake among pregnant women in Malaysia based on revised recommended nutrient intakes value and potential dietary strategies to tackle the inadequacy

• Published in: Nutrition research and practice Vol. 15; no. 4; pp. 492 - 503
• Main Authors: Lee, Siew Siew, Subramaniam, Raman, Tusimin, Maiza, Ling, King Hwa, Rahim, Kartini Farah, Loh, Su Peng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Pregnant women; vitamin D; dietary supplements
• EISSN: 2005-6168
• ISSN: 1976-1457

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Recently, the recommended nutrient intakes (RNI) for vitamin D for Malaysian aged 1-70 yrs has been revised from 5 ㎍/day to 15 ㎍/day. This study is aimed to assess the adequacy of vitamin D intake based on revised RNI and to recommend several dietary strategies to increase total vitamin D intake. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Vitamin D intake from both food and supplement of 217 pregnant women was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Hypothetical effect of expanded supplementation and food fortifications strategies were modelled using the consumption data. RESULTS: The results revealed that more than half (67.7%) of pregnant women had inadequate vitamin D intake (RNI < 15 ㎍/day). The modelling results demonstrated the potential of universal provision of 10 ㎍/day of multivitamins supplements in increasing vitamin D intake. Moreover, mandatory fortification of both milk and malted drink at single level of 5 ㎍/serving would lead to increase in vitamin D intake of Malaysians, particularly pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of this study can be used as a reference for public health professionals to re-evaluate the existing Malaysian food fortification policies and supplementation recommendation for vitamin D for pregnant women.