When it comes to your kids and vitamin supplements, you should know that most children do not need extra or supplemental
vitamins or minerals. If you base your children’s
diet on the
food guide pyramid, according to the
American Academy of Pediatrics, you shouldn’t need to give your child vitamin supplements.
However, it is important to know that of all the age groups, children can be the one that is the hardest to control when it comes to diet. Children don’t understand what it means when something is essential for their bodies, and they are much more prone to being picky eaters or having poor diets. If you child is eating a special diet, they might need more vitamins or minerals. These can include vegetarians, children with allergies, or children that have religions which state certain foods shouldn’t be eaten.
The most important thing for you to keep in mind when it comes to making sure that your child has a healthy diet is to ensure that they are getting the proper amounts of the right kinds of vitamins and minerals. If this isn’t happening because of what they are eating, you either need to change what they are eating, or make sure that they are getting the vitamins in another way. Vitamin supplements can be purchased in kid-friendly shapes and flavors, so it shouldn’t be a problem to have your child take them.
There are several vitamins and minerals that are going to be important for your child to have enough of. These include, especially, iron, which is needed in children to prevent anemia. This usually happens if children aren’t given enough extra iron after they are six months old, which happens often if a baby drinks cow or goat milk instead of formula. Young and adolescent girls are also at a risk of having an
iron deficiency.
Another important thing that children need is
calcium. This is something that is completely necessary for healthy bones and teeth. If children are drinking milk and eating
dairy products, they are probably getting enough calcium, but if they aren’t, you might need to
supplement this in their diets.
It is also important that children are getting fluoride. This helps to build healthy teeth. However, it is important that they only get enough fluoride, and not too much, so don’t add to their intake unless your dentist or doctor thinks that you should.
If you don’t think that your child is getting enough vitamins or minerals, you should consult with your doctor to make sure that you can find a good balance and a good children’s
multivitamin for them to be taking. However, it is crucial that you realize that a vitamin is not a replacement for food and is not a substitute for a varied diet.
Do you think vitamins are necessary for kids?
Comments (17)
"It is also important that children are getting fluoride. This helps to
build healthy teeth. However, it is important that they only get enough
fluoride, and not too much, so don’t add to their intake unless your
dentist or doctor thinks that you should."
I'm appalled that this is in an article about vitamin supplements. Fluoride does not need to be taken internally; using a fluoridated toothpaste should be enough to get the benefits for your teeth.
Implying that it's something that children's bodies can be deficient in is potentially dangerous.
I give my kids a vitamin a day and a vitamin c halls thing. And they pretty much NEVER get sick:)
Basically: the only time you need to give your kids vitamin supplements is when you don't know how to feed them correctly.
@thinkin_up_dreams@xanga - I concur. There are special circumstances in which targeted supplementation is needed (folate, for example, may need to be supplemented in the case of certain neurological conditions --of course only at the advice of an actual M.D.), but routine supplementation is a bit of a scam; unless of course the only thing you're feeding your kids is mac and cheese.
@Strangebrain@xanga - "routine supplementation is a bit of a scam; unless of course the only thing you're feeding your kids is mac and cheese."
I wouldn't be surprised, actually...
@Strangebrain@xanga - You should visit my blog. I think I just made a post talking about people who make unnecessary points.
Of course there are special cases where kids should be taking these vitamins. But for the most part, if your kid is healthy and normal then you really shouldn't have to.
@thinkin_up_dreams@xanga - I was agreeing with you. I simply made the point about those special cases (not necessarily towards you) because other people always jump on my back whenever I say routine supplements are a scam. It wasn't an unnecessary point; just damage control.
@Strangebrain@xanga - there was no damage.
@thinkin_up_dreams@xanga - Ha! There's always damage with me.
@Strangebrain@xanga - I don't want to sound mean, because you're seeming to be coming out more in good humor and good intentions than anything...
but if the damage was you then you didn't need to fix anything about me. :)
@thinkin_up_dreams@xanga - I always have good intentions
. The damage comes from the things I say. I wasn't trying to fix anything you were saying, just damage control for what I had said.
I believe that supplements are beneficial, even necessary, for a god number of kids - same as adults, for the same reasons: Nobody has enough time, energy, patience, or knowledge to prepare according to the pyramid. Kids ARE eating just Mac and Cheese, then candy, sodas, and run to school tired, unable or unwilling to focus. The fact is, kids are in the peak growing period of their lives, and if they're not taking in 6 cans of peaches, half a pound of chicken and 8 different vegetables, they're not getting everything they need to counteract pollution and the millions of other things that impact their health.
If you don't believe me, why are kids sick "all the time" - with the same illness every time? It's not because they're around other sick kids so much as the fact that their immune systems aren't prepared for the onslaught of germs. Getting a cold or other minor illness is the first sign that the body's resources are not at their best levels. Give them the best they can get. Read the Comparative Guide to Children's Nutritionals by Lyle MacWilliam and you'll find a few companies that stand out as the top manufacturers. There's a huge difference between store brands and the top rated supplements.
not pills type. just eat your regular fruits and vegetables, watch the protein and dairy intake and you'll be fine :D
unless its necessary for you to take them, says your doctor?
There is this new study about vitamin supplementation and its negative effect on our health. Getting vitamins and minerals through food is better.
A Flinstones vitamin (or something else formulated for kids), maybe. But really, it's not so difficult to get your kid the right nutrients from food that you need to stuff them with 30 pills a day.
i sometimes take calcium pills just because i don't eat a lot of dairy and I worry about that. As a child, my mom always insisted we take vitamins, and I don't take them anymore but i don't think it's a horrible idea so long as you limit it to one a day or so. Countless studies show that the majority of children today DON'T get all the vitamins they need- for a variety of reasons. A vitamin supplement is better than no vitamins at all.
Flintstones vitamins ftw. :D