Child Vitamins - Are They Getting What They Need?

Whether your child needs child vitamins depends on how well they are eating. Whilst that sounds simple and obvious, it is not always easy to establish, especially for older children with pocket money and access to school canteens where they can easily buy junk food.

The meals your children have at home are more readily under control. Even if the family doesn't have a lot of time due to work commitments, establishing a mealtime routine with good food choices that involve the whole family not only provides an excellent nutritional foundation for children, it also helps set the pattern for eating well in adulthood. And having the whole famnily eat together means children's meal choices can at least be supervised. It should also help relationships within the family unit, and perhaps leave children less open to looking to rebellious peers for a sense of family.

If children are eating a lot of junk food, or pre-processed food, they could need child vitamins. People can also be overweight and vitamin deficient, especially if their diet is made up of nutrient-poor food. This is as true of children as it is of adults.

A lack of vitamins and minerals in children and young adults can affect not only their physical development, but also their mental and emotional development. A lot of positive feedback has been gained in schools that switched to a nutritional food menu from junk food. children were able to concentrate better, they did better in school, and their behaviour at school was improved.

Fortified foods can help fill the gap in providing some child vitamins. The advantage with these is that they are often in a form children will eat, such as bread - even white bread!

child vitamins are available in liquid or capsule form But what nutrients are particularly important for children?

Iron

Iron is very important for growing children. It prevents them becoming anemic, which can lead to fatigue and other symptoms. Good sources of iron include fish, meat, legumes, and fortified breads and cereals. It is important that children don't have too much iron however, as it can build up in the body and become toxic. This can lead to liver damage.

Calcium

Calcium is essential for children's growing bones and teeth. Child vitamins usually only have 200mg of calcium, which is only 20% of their RDA. This is because calcium is such a bulky mineral. So, if children aren't getting their calcium RDA from dairy sources like yoghurt, milk, ice cream, or cheese, you may need to give them a calcium supplement as well as their regular child vitamins.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is important for growing bones and healthy, strong teeth. It works with calcium, and is often found in calcium supplements.

Adults can help their children get their vitamin needs by leading by example, setting limits on the availability of junk food, and if possible, using organic produce. Organic produce has a higher vitamin and mineral content generally than other produce. A lot of supermarkets have organic food cheaper than it used to be.

Having frozen vegetables available is a good option for busy Moms. Frozen vegetables tend to have as many vitamins as their fresh counterpart, and provide an easy way to keep a range of good food on hand for meals.

But if you do need to use child vitamins, there are special formulations for kids. This makes it a lot easier to get kids to take them than it used to be.

There are even gummi candies that provide all the vitamins a child needs. It's important to keep child vitamins out of reach however, especially the tastier ones. Problems like iron overdosing could occur if a child gets into the cupboard where the vitamins are kept. This can have serious health consequences, and make them very sick. Iron overdosing can be fatal, so if you think this has happened, call a poison control center, or take your child to a hospital, immediately.

I have included the recommended daily allowances in the tables below:

You can find more information on child vitamins, including liquid types, here.

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