Nutr Res Pract.  2021 Aug;15(4):492-503. 10.4162/nrp.2021.15.4.492.

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

• Lee SS
• Subramaniam R
• Tusimin M
• Ling KH
• Rahim KF
• Loh SP

• KMID: 2518762
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2021.15.4.492

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES
Recently, the recommended nutrient intakes (RNI) for vitamin D for Malaysian aged 1–70 yrs has been revised from 5 µg/day to 15 µg/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 µg/day). The modelling results demonstrated the potential of universal provision of 10 µg/day of multivitamins supplements in increasing vitamin D intake. Moreover, mandatory fortification of both milk and malted drink at single level of 5 µg/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.

Keyword

Pregnant women; vitamin D; dietary supplements

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