In Finland, vitamin D comes from food, from the sun and from a vitamin D supplement. The main food sources are fish, fortified dairy and spreads. Below, we add up how much vitamin D an ordinary family day brings and where a supplement fits in.
Where to get vitamin D from food
In Finland, the skin makes vitamin D from sunlight only part of the year. That's why vitamin D is added to milk and spreads.
Fish. Fish has the most vitamin D, but the amount varies by species. Whitefish, Baltic herring, salmon, pikeperch, perch and rainbow trout are the best sources. They have 8–22 µg of vitamin D per 100 grams. Saithe and tuna have hardly any.
Milk and buttermilk. The National Nutrition Council recommends adding 1 µg of vitamin D per 100 ml to liquid dairy products. A glass of 1 dl then has about 1 µg. Not every milk is fortified, so check the pack.
Spreads. Spreads are fortified with 20 µg per 100 grams, as recommended. Butter isn't fortified.
Eggs and wild mushrooms. Eggs have about 2.2 µg of vitamin D per 100 grams. Wild mushrooms have some too, but in a form the body uses less well.
Plant drinks. Some oat, soy and other plant drinks have added vitamin D, some don't. The amount varies by brand, so check the pack.
How much vitamin D does an ordinary day bring?
Take a preschooler. The food recommendations for families say 4 dl of milk or buttermilk a day is enough at that age.
- 4 dl fortified milk or buttermilk: about 4 µg
- 10 g of spread on bread: about 2 µg
- Total: about 6 µg
On a fish day, the amount goes up clearly. A 50-gram portion of salmon or Baltic herring alone brings 4–11 µg, depending on the species. The recommendation is fish 2–3 times a week.
Finland's national nutrition recommendations set the recommended vitamin D intake from food and supplements together at 10 µg a day, from two weeks of age to 74 years. On top of food, children are recommended a vitamin D supplement all year round: 7.5 µg a day for ages 2–17. It's the only supplement recommended for all children. Add a 7.5 µg supplement to the example day and it comes to about 13.5 µg.
Vitamin D recommendation for children and adults
This is how the 2024 Finnish recommendations set vitamin D supplements:
| Who | Vitamin D supplement |
|---|---|
| Babies from 2 weeks | 2–10 µg a day, depending on how much formula or follow-on formula the baby gets |
| 1-year-olds | 10 µg a day all year |
| 2–17-year-olds | 7.5 µg a day all year |
| 18–74-year-olds | 10 µg a day from October to March, if the diet doesn't include fortified dairy or spreads every day or fish 2–3 times a week |
| Pregnant and breastfeeding women | 10 µg a day |
| 75 and over | 10–20 µg a day all year |
Source: Finland's national nutrition recommendations 2024 (Kestävää terveyttä ruoasta), table 5.
If your child takes a multivitamin on top of a vitamin D supplement, see how to add up the total vitamin D.
Can you get vitamin D from the sun in winter?
Not in Finland. Here the skin makes vitamin D in sunlight from March to October. In the darkest winter months, vitamin D comes from food and supplements. We wrote a separate post about the winter diet: Which vitamins in winter?
Can you get too much vitamin D?
Yes, if several supplements are used at once. The safe upper limit is 50 µg a day for ages 1–10 and 100 µg from age 11. The limit covers all intake together: food, vitamin D supplement and multivitamin.
What does vitamin D do?
"Vitamin D is needed for normal growth and development of bone in children."
"Vitamin D contributes to the normal function of the immune system in children."
One Ayaka multivitamin chewable tablet, the daily dose, has 5 µg of vitamin D3, which is 100 % of the EU nutrient reference value.
In short
- From food, vitamin D comes from fish, fortified dairy and spreads.
- A preschooler's ordinary day brings about 6 µg, more on a fish day.
- Children aged 2–17 are recommended a 7.5 µg vitamin D supplement every day, all year.
- In winter, the skin doesn't make vitamin D.
Why Ayaka?
With Ayaka, your child decorates their own reusable jar with stickers. The jar becomes their thing. The idea is that the vitamin becomes a routine your child owns, not something parents have to remind them about. Ayaka has 12 vitamins and minerals. A refill comes through the letterbox once a month. See Ayaka multivitamin
