December 1, 2015

Could Vitamin D Help Reduce Ear Infections in Children?

About 75 percent of children get ear infections and by one years old, 60 percent will have had at least one.[1] Ear infections occur when fluid is trapped in the middle of the ear. It is a common side effect of a cold, throat infection or even allergies. But a new study from the University of Milan could shed light on the benefit of vitamin D supplementation when it comes to your child’s ear infections.

The Study on Vitamin D and Ear Infections

Researchers from the University in Italy studied 116 children with recurrent otitis media, “three of more episodes in the 6 months prior to the study or four or more episodes in the 12 months prior to the study,” Medpage Today reports. With an average age of 34 months old, most of the children studied are Caucasian and over 80 percent (the placebo group and vitamin D group) had received a vaccine for pneumonia. Researchers reported that over 72 percent of the test group and 84 percent of the placebo group had been breastfeed for three months or more. The children were monitored for six months.

Results

Results of the study showed a significantly lower amount of ear infections (acute otitis media) in the treatment group (given 1000 IU of vitamin C) than the placebo group. Also seen in the results was a reduction in the number of incidences of complicated acute otitis media.

Though Vitamin D is commonly thought of as the “Sunshine Vitamin”, this vitamin actually plays numerous roles throughout your body. The National Institutes of Health reports that vitamin D is also a major factor in immune function and the reduction of inflammation.

“Dr. Susanna Esposito, one of the researchers, noted that as many as 80 percent of children in the study had baseline serum vitamin D levels that were <0 ng/mL. All but two of the children in the treatment group had improvements to levels >30 ng/mL from supplementation, the recommended level for vitamin D. Esposito suggested to doctors that “if you have a child with recurrent otitis media you can check serum levels of vitamin D and if they present below certain levels you can try supplementation,” reported EmpowHER.

*The study advises parents to be sure to consult their child’s doctor before starting them on a vitamin supplementation routine.