Literature review documents safe use and important health effects of vitamin K2 in child populations, noting consideration for pregnant and nursing women.
Children has published an important review paper that documents vitamin K2’s role in various physiological processes, its safe history of use, and that children express the greatest need for K2 supplementation.
The paper, “The Impact of Vitamin K2 (Menaquinones) in Children’s Health and Disease: A Review of the Literature “1, presents a thoughtful organization of data highlighting the differences between vitamins K1 and K2, as well as K2 as menaquinone-4 (MK-4) and as MK-7; factors contributing to the prevalence of K deficiency; and how child populations can benefit from correcting this deficiency, according to Dr. Katarzyna Maresz, president of the International Science and Health Foundation, and co-author to this paper.
“Vitamin K2 activates K-dependent proteins that support many biological functions, including bone mineralization, the inhibition of vascular stiffness, the improvement of endothelial function, the maintenance of strong teeth, brain development, joint health, and optimal body weight,” Dr. Maresz explains. “Due to the transformation of food habits in developed countries over the last five decades, vitamin K and, specifically, vitamin K2 intakes among parents and their offspring have decreased significantly, resulting in serious health implications. The therapeutics used in pediatric practice (antibiotics and glucocorticoids) are also to blame for this situation.”
Dr. Maresz teamed with a nutritionist colleague at Jagiellonian University Medical College to complete the review, in which they discuss K2 as MK-7 supplementation is worth considering for expectant mothers as a means of setting their children on the best path to health. “The lack of adverse effects of MK-7 makes it the ideal choice for supplementation by pregnant and nursing women and children, both healthy and suffering from various malabsorptions and health disorders, such as dyslipidemia, diabetes, thalassemia major (TM), cystic fibrosis (CF), inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), and chronic liver diseases,” the authors write.
“As we continue our pursuit of a K2-specific Recommended Daily Intake (RDI), this review serves as a substantial argument,” says Dr. Hogne Vik, Chief Medical Officer with Gnosis by Lesaffre. “Particularly as it illustrates the overwhelming impact K2 deficiency has on child populations, and it illustrates how parents’ deficiencies feed into the state of their children’s health. We have stressed for more than a decade the impact that Vitamin K2 can have on children’s health. As thrilling as it was to see the first child-specific formulas featuring MenaQ7 K2 hit the market a few years ago, we have so much more to do to improve the health of our children.”
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