Oral vitamin D supplementation is associated with full enteral feeding in very low birth weight infants

Background and aims As vitamin D is mostly transferred to the fetus during the third trimester, preterm infants are born with lower vitamin D stores. However, most clinical guidelines do not suggest clearly when to initiate vitamin D in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. This retrospective study...

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Main Authors: Yie Huang, Ping Zhou, Ruiping Wu, Xiaomei Fan, Ping Zheng, Xintian Shen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/14767058.2025.2515426
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author Yie Huang
Ping Zhou
Ruiping Wu
Xiaomei Fan
Ping Zheng
Xintian Shen
author_facet Yie Huang
Ping Zhou
Ruiping Wu
Xiaomei Fan
Ping Zheng
Xintian Shen
author_sort Yie Huang
collection DOAJ
description Background and aims As vitamin D is mostly transferred to the fetus during the third trimester, preterm infants are born with lower vitamin D stores. However, most clinical guidelines do not suggest clearly when to initiate vitamin D in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. This retrospective study aimed to assess whether the initiation of oral vitamin D supplementation was associated with full enteral feeding (FEF) in VLBW infants.Methods A total of 383 VLBW infants (gestational age, 24–32 weeks; birth weight, 570–1500 g) admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit between October 2018 and December 2022 were included in this study. To assess the independent association between oral vitamin D and FEF, univariate or multivariate Cox analyses were performed, adjusting for 16 major confounders (birth weight, initiation of enteral feeding, sepsis, the enteral feed volume when oral vitamin D started, etc.). Time-varying coefficients method is used to accommodate the non-constant hazard ratio implied by the proportional hazards assumption violation.Results Multivariate Cox regression for the time to reach full enteral feeding (T-FEF) and time to add human milk fortifier (T-HMF) were analyzed respectively. Delayed oral vitamin D supplementation (after postnatal day 13) was independently and negatively associated with the cumulative probability of achieving FEF (B − 5.088, RR 0.006 (0.001–0.057), p < .00001). Delayed oral vitamin D supplementation was independently and negatively associated with the cumulative probability of adding human milk fortifier (HMF) (B − 3.115, RR 0.044 (0.006–0.334), p = .002). The hazard effect of the delayed supplementation diminished over time, with the RR = EXP(−5.088 + 1.447 × Ln(T-FEF)) or RR = EXP(−3.115 + 0.729 × Ln(T-HMF)), respectively.Conclusions Our research suggests that earlier initiation of oral vitamin D is associated with improved FEF in VLBW infants.
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spelling doaj-art-dcee16d2afab463ca41e8e0873a8739e2025-08-20T02:31:27ZengTaylor & Francis GroupThe Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine1476-70581476-49542025-12-0138110.1080/14767058.2025.2515426Oral vitamin D supplementation is associated with full enteral feeding in very low birth weight infantsYie Huang0Ping Zhou1Ruiping Wu2Xiaomei Fan3Ping Zheng4Xintian Shen5Department of Prevention and Healthcare, Shenzhen Baoan Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Shenzhen, ChinaNeonatal Intensive Care Unit, Shenzhen Baoan Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Shenzhen Hospital (Longgang), Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Shenzhen Baoan Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Shenzhen, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Shenzhen Baoan Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Shenzhen, ChinaBackground and aims As vitamin D is mostly transferred to the fetus during the third trimester, preterm infants are born with lower vitamin D stores. However, most clinical guidelines do not suggest clearly when to initiate vitamin D in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. This retrospective study aimed to assess whether the initiation of oral vitamin D supplementation was associated with full enteral feeding (FEF) in VLBW infants.Methods A total of 383 VLBW infants (gestational age, 24–32 weeks; birth weight, 570–1500 g) admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit between October 2018 and December 2022 were included in this study. To assess the independent association between oral vitamin D and FEF, univariate or multivariate Cox analyses were performed, adjusting for 16 major confounders (birth weight, initiation of enteral feeding, sepsis, the enteral feed volume when oral vitamin D started, etc.). Time-varying coefficients method is used to accommodate the non-constant hazard ratio implied by the proportional hazards assumption violation.Results Multivariate Cox regression for the time to reach full enteral feeding (T-FEF) and time to add human milk fortifier (T-HMF) were analyzed respectively. Delayed oral vitamin D supplementation (after postnatal day 13) was independently and negatively associated with the cumulative probability of achieving FEF (B − 5.088, RR 0.006 (0.001–0.057), p < .00001). Delayed oral vitamin D supplementation was independently and negatively associated with the cumulative probability of adding human milk fortifier (HMF) (B − 3.115, RR 0.044 (0.006–0.334), p = .002). The hazard effect of the delayed supplementation diminished over time, with the RR = EXP(−5.088 + 1.447 × Ln(T-FEF)) or RR = EXP(−3.115 + 0.729 × Ln(T-HMF)), respectively.Conclusions Our research suggests that earlier initiation of oral vitamin D is associated with improved FEF in VLBW infants.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/14767058.2025.2515426Initiation of oral vitamin D supplementationfull enteral feedingvery low birth weight infantsmultivariate Cox regressionhuman milk fortifier
spellingShingle Yie Huang
Ping Zhou
Ruiping Wu
Xiaomei Fan
Ping Zheng
Xintian Shen
Oral vitamin D supplementation is associated with full enteral feeding in very low birth weight infants
The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine
Initiation of oral vitamin D supplementation
full enteral feeding
very low birth weight infants
multivariate Cox regression
human milk fortifier
title Oral vitamin D supplementation is associated with full enteral feeding in very low birth weight infants
title_full Oral vitamin D supplementation is associated with full enteral feeding in very low birth weight infants
title_fullStr Oral vitamin D supplementation is associated with full enteral feeding in very low birth weight infants
title_full_unstemmed Oral vitamin D supplementation is associated with full enteral feeding in very low birth weight infants
title_short Oral vitamin D supplementation is associated with full enteral feeding in very low birth weight infants
title_sort oral vitamin d supplementation is associated with full enteral feeding in very low birth weight infants
topic Initiation of oral vitamin D supplementation
full enteral feeding
very low birth weight infants
multivariate Cox regression
human milk fortifier
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/14767058.2025.2515426
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AT pingzhou oralvitamindsupplementationisassociatedwithfullenteralfeedinginverylowbirthweightinfants
AT ruipingwu oralvitamindsupplementationisassociatedwithfullenteralfeedinginverylowbirthweightinfants
AT xiaomeifan oralvitamindsupplementationisassociatedwithfullenteralfeedinginverylowbirthweightinfants
AT pingzheng oralvitamindsupplementationisassociatedwithfullenteralfeedinginverylowbirthweightinfants
AT xintianshen oralvitamindsupplementationisassociatedwithfullenteralfeedinginverylowbirthweightinfants