Nutrition in the First 1,000 Days: Vitamin D
Driving Early Development

Maternal vitamin D deficiency has a strong mother-infant relationship, affecting status in utero, through infancy, and throughout the first 1,000 days. Vitamin D supports and regulates the skeletal system, plays an essential role in immune function, and is a key nutrient for supporting  brain and neurodevelopment. Vitamin D deficiency is common worldwide, but even more prevalent for those living in northern climates.

Neonatologist Carol L. Wagner, MD, reviews the importance of vitamin D beyond bone health, and its role in growth and development from neonate to toddler. She defines vitamin D deficiency and outlines a screening process to monitor levels. To provide optimal long-term health outcomes, Dr. Wagner reviews supplementation plans in pregnant women and formula intake in infants, as well as complementary foods after 6 months of age.

The overarching goal of this collection is to improve the clinician’s ability to guide mothers and children toward nutrition that supports optimal growth and development during the first 1,000 days.

• Profile

  Carol L. Wagner, MD

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  Carol L. Wagner, MD, is a professor of pediatrics and associate director of the Clinical and Translational Research Center (NEXUS) at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. She received her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed a residency, internship and neonatal-perinatal fellowship at the University of Rochester/Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York.

  Dr. Wagner is a board-certified neonatologist whose research focuses on understanding the vitamin D requirements of pregnant and lactating women and their infants, as well as the long-term impact of vitamin D deficiency on health. She has been the principal or co-principal investigator of a number of clinical trials sponsored by the NIH, the Thrasher Research Fund, and the Kellogg Foundation. The studies have focused on neonatal nutrition, particularly the role of vitamin D during pregnancy and early childhood.

  Dr. Wagner is a member of the International Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Breastfeeding and Perinatal sections, a fellow in the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, and an elected member in the Society for Pediatric Research and the American Society for Nutritional Sciences.

  The author of more than 150 peer-reviewed journal articles, Dr. Wagner serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Human Lactation and Breastfeeding Medicine, and is an ad hoc reviewer for numerous other prestigious scientific journals.

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  Carol L. Wagner, MD

  Professor of Pediatrics
  Medical University of South Carolina
  Charleston, South Carolina