Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 2 Fetal Medicine and Gynaecology Centre (FMGC), 46200 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
  • 3 Prince Court Medical Centre, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 5 Avisena Specialist Hospital, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
Nutr Res Pract, 2021 Aug;15(4):492-503.
PMID: 34349882 DOI: 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.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.