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The results of a 20-year study in Australia say mothers with low vitamin D levels during pregnancy are more likely to have babies with language impairments.

It's the first time vitamin D deficiency has been linked to brain development.

A 20-year study in Australia says mothers with low vitamin D levels during pregnancy are more likely to have babies with language impairments. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)

The human body produces Vitamin D when skin is exposed to sunlight, but people living at higher latitudes are prone to deficiency in the vitamin, especially in winter.

In the journal Pediatrics, researchers said they found that mothers who had the lowest vitamin D levels in their blood during their second trimester had almost double the risk of their babies developing language problems. The near doubling in risk held after taking the mothers' age, smoking during pregnancy and the number of children into account.

The researchers did not find an association between vitamin D levels in pregnancy and behavioural or emotional problems. Andrew Whitehouse, a professor at the University of Western Australia, led the study.

“The next step is really a trial of supplementation during pregnancy,” said Whitehouse.

“We're very interested to see if we provide women with adequate vitamin D, whether through an oral pill or a cream, if that would promote the optimal development of the child.”

Whitehouse recommends mothers take vitamin D supplements during their pregnancy, rather than depend on sunlight.

Country foods such as fish and blubber are high in Vitamin D. Nunavut also offers free Vitamin D supplements at its health centres.

The study was funded by Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research.