A newborn with low levels of vitamin D could be more likely to develop mental health conditions like autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and schizophrenia later in life, according to a Lancet study involving the University of Queensland. This is supposed to be the largest population-based study to date looking at vitamin D and mental disorders, published in Psychiatry.
Researchers assessed the vitamin D status of over 71,000 individuals, many of whom had been diagnosed with mental health disorders during childhood or early adulthood.
John McGrath from Queensland Brain Institute, who led the study in collaboration with Denmark’s Aarhus University and the State Serum Institute, said that the team examined six mental disorders: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and anorexia nervosa.
“We found evidence that people with lower vitamin D concentration as a baby had an increased risk of schizophrenia, ASD and ADHD,” McGrath said.
He added that their findings support the idea that vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy and early life may help reduce the risk of developing certain mental disorders later on.
“Vitamin D is important for a baby’s brain development, and low vitamin D levels are common in pregnant women across the globe,” he said.
To understand the broader impact of this research, IndiaToday.in spoke to Dr Himani Narula Khanna, a developmental behavioural paediatrician and adolescent mental health expert, who confirmed that a growing number of studies have drawn similar conclusions.
She referred to earlier research, including a 2016 cohort study in Denmark and another in Finland, which found that babies born to mothers with low vitamin D levels had a higher risk of developing schizophrenia, ADHD, and autism symptoms in childhood or adulthood.