GrassrootsHealth will use a very generous donation of 4000 bottles of vitamin D3 liquid supplements to distribute to participants in various Protect Our Children NOW! fundraising events in San Diego in the next two months.
Encinitas — July 17, 2012 — The Protect Our Children NOW! campaign to get at least 1000 pregnant women to test their vitamin D levels throughout their pregnancy, and to then test their infants, has just been launched by GrassrootsHealth. “When there is a randomized trial that not only shows getting the vitamin D serum levels to a minimum of 40 ng/ml is optimal and, that it’s safe, we need to take action on a community basis” says Carole Baggerly, director of GrassrootsHealth. “There are currently 2500 women in San Diego expected to have a pre-term birth with all its complications in the next 12 months that could be prevented with something as simple as vitamin D.”
Carol L. Wagner, M.D., co-author of the paper on Vitamin D Supplementation and Pregnancy, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2011, and the leader of this study indicates that “The involvement of over 1000 women who have chosen to participate in this population based study will provide unprecedented data and information that will unequivocally show the importance of vitamin D during pregnancy, and will be the motivating factor in defining and re-defining public policy and strategies to improve health during pregnancy. It is essential that we have this kind of participation because it will move the focus from what could potentially take decades into a timeline that is compacted within 5 years.”
Fundraising efforts are needed in the next few months to provide support for the project. The target is $300,000 for the year to cover the 1000 women and their infants. It is expected to be a 5 year project to fully demonstrate the vitamin D health of the pregnant women and their children. In addition to the specific conditions of pregnancy such as pre-term births and bacterial infections, infant and young child conditions from type 1diabetes to asthma, dental caries and even autism are being studied. All are potentially affected by getting their serum levels to a minimum of 40 ng/ml. Any organization or group that is interested in sponsoring a fundraising event should contact Jen Aliano , Director of Communications. GrassrootsHealth will provide a brief informational session about vitamin D and pregnancy to the group and will provide the free supplements at the event.
About GrassrootsHealth
GrassrootsHealth is a nonprofit public health research organization dedicated to moving public health messages regarding vitamin D from science into practice. GRH is currently running the D*action population intervention program to solve the vitamin D epidemic worldwide. Under the D*action umbrella, there are programs looking at the entire population as well as targeted programs for breast cancer prevention and a newly announced ‘Protect Our Children NOW!’ program to reduce the complications of pregnancy.