The National Health Security Agency (ANSES) calls on young parents to be vigilant following three new cases of vitamin D overdose in infants. Consumed in large quantities, these food supplements can be dangerous for the health of newborns.
This call for vigilance should not be taken lightly. The National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) recently reported three new cases of vitamin D overconsumption in infants. It therefore calls on parents to be vigilant in the face of excessive vitamin D supplementation, via food supplements.
“An excess of vitamin D can have serious consequences on their health and threaten the vital prognosis of toddlers. To limit the risks, we recall our recommendations for the supplementation of infants with vitamin D, “said the agency. in an article published on his website.
In children, vitamin D is considered essential for bone growth. To ensure this growth, this vitamin is therefore prescribed in France from the first days of life to prevent rickets, a disease of growth and ossification.
Only on medical prescription
But “giving your child too much vitamin D can be as dangerous as not giving enough,” warns the agency, which says it has recorded “three new reports of severe hypercalcemia – excess calcium in the blood – occurring in infants in 2022”. And these cases of severe hypercalcemia result from the misuse of “food supplements containing vitamin D”, says ANSES.
To limit the risks, the agency recommends in particular to “prefer the taking of drugs to that of food supplements”. The drugs indeed guarantee “clear information in terms of doses, precautions for use, risk of adverse effects and overdose”.
She also recommends to “well control the doses given to your child and not to multiply the products containing vitamin D to avoid overdoses which might disturb his kidney function”.
In all cases, the intake of vitamin D must only be done on prescription from a health professional, insists ANSES once more.
