{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T10:11:03Z","timestamp":1775124663976,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,29]],"date-time":"2021-04-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1619654400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001322","name":"South African Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SIR"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SIR"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001322","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Early-life vitamin D deficiency is associated with adverse child health outcomes, but the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its correlates in infants remains underexplored, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its correlates among young infants in South Africa. This study included 744 infants, aged 6\u201310 weeks from the Drakenstein Child Health Study, a population-based birth cohort. Infants were categorized into distinct categories based on serum 25(OH)D concentration level including deficient (&lt;50 nmol\/L), insufficient (50\u201374 nmol\/L), and sufficient (\u226575 nmol\/L). Using multivariable Tobit and logistic regression models, we examined the correlates of serum 25(OH)D3 levels. The overall prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 81% (95% confidence intervals (CI]) 78\u201383). Multivariable regression analysis showed that serum 25(OH)D3 concentration was independently associated with study site, socioeconomic status, and sex. Birth in winter and breastfeeding were the strongest predictors of lower serum 25(OH)D3 concentration levels. Compared to non-breastfed children, children breastfed were at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency (AOR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.04\u20133.67) and breastfeeding for more than one month was associated with greater likelihood of vitamin D deficiency (AOR, 5.40; 95% CI, 2.37\u201312.32) and lower vitamin D concentrations (\u221216.22 nmol\/L; 95% CI, \u221221.06, \u221211.39). Vitamin D deficiency in infants is ubiquitous, under-recognised, and strongly associated with season of birth and breastfeeding in this setting. Nutritional interventions with vitamin D supplementation in national health programs in low- and middle-income countries are urgently needed to improve early-life vitamin D status in infants.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13051500","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,29]],"date-time":"2021-04-29T10:30:41Z","timestamp":1619692241000},"page":"1500","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Prevalence and Correlates of Vitamin D Deficiency among Young South African Infants: A Birth Cohort Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2151-1251","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jabulani","family":"Ncayiyana","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Epidemiology &amp; Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa"},{"name":"Division of Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Leonardo","family":"Martinez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA 02118, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elizabeth","family":"Goddard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children\u2019s Hospital, and SA-MRC Unit on Child &amp; Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Landon","family":"Myer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Epidemiology &amp; Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Heather","family":"Zar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children\u2019s Hospital, and SA-MRC Unit on Child &amp; Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7700, South Africa"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1515\/jpem-2017-0391","article-title":"Vitamin D deficiency in childhood: Old lessons and current challenges","volume":"31","author":"Antonucci","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. 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