Vitamin use in Babies Might Lead to Asthma and Allergies

Starting your kids on vitamins too early may result in asthma or food allergies say researchers. Vitamin supplementation during the first six months after birth has shown an increased risk for asthma in black children and food allergies in children who are only formula fed. Vitamin use at age 3 was also linked to an increased risk for food allergies but not asthma.

A higher risk for asthma was also associated with being male, having a smoker in the house, child care, prematurity, no history of breastfeeding, lower income, and lower education. Researchers say their findings may indicate very early environmental exposures, stimulated by vitamins, can affect the risk for later development of allergic disease.

However researchers say they are unclear whether the associations in black children are biological or a result of bias. However, they conclude higher doses of multivitamins for any child may not always be best.