Obesity in mothers leads to higher death rate in their children. Does vitamin D play a part?

On Friday, January 30, Yahoo News posted a Reuters article with the title, “Mom's obesity tied to higher infant mortality.”[1] This is not surprising. Obesity is closely correlated to many health problems, and one is the tendency of obese people, both children and adults, to be at higher risk for vitamin D deficiency.[2] [3] We have already discussed in previous posts that children born to vitamin D-deficient mothers have greater risks of diabetes, autism, weak bones and other maladies.

Although it is not known if it is vitamin D deficiency in the obese mother that causes a greater death rate in the children, the greater number of health problems among children of vitamin D-deficient mothers certainly makes the theory tenable. Expectant mothers who are obese would be well-advised to keep their vitamin D levels high for their benefit and the benefit of their developing babies.

[1] http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090130/hl_nm/us_obesity_mortality;_ylt=Arm4zrlZzzAv3NBv7PMRLKrVJRIF
[2] Parikh, S. et al. The Relationship between Obesity and Serum 1,25-Dihydroxy Vitamin D Concentrations in Healthy Adults. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2004;89(3):1196-99.
[3] Smotkin-Tangora, M. er al. Prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in obese children and adolescents. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 2007;20:817-23.ttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090130/hl_nm/us_obesity_mortality;_ylt=Arm4zrlZzzAv3NBv7PMRLKrVJRIF