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Do kids need vit­a­mins, or should I give my child vit­a­mins? There is no doubt that it’s cru­cial for kids to get enough vit­a­mins in their diet, but do we actu­al­ly need to give them vit­a­min sup­ple­ments to fill in the nutri­tion­al gaps? So, what is a nutri­tion­al gap?  A nutri­tion­al gap is a defi­cien­cy of vit­a­mins or min­er­als that can affect opti­mal health. A sup­ple­ment is a way to “sup­ple­ment” your child’s diet and fill any poten­tial nutri­tion­al gaps.  Every­one wants their chil­dren to be healthy, ener­getic and hap­py. But some­times, that end goal can feel overwhelming! Most pedi­a­tri­cians agree that a parent’s first line of defence should be a healthy diet. Giv­en the real­i­ty of time-crunched par­ents, those fresh­ly home-cooked meals aren’t always achievable. 

So, we need first to know: What Nutrients Do Kids Need?

Do kids need vitamins l Should I give my child vitamins Good nutri­tion starts by intro­duc­ing a wide vari­ety of fresh, whole foods as much as pos­si­ble. You can spread the vari­ety of foods into small meals and snacks through­out the day.  Your kids should get their vit­a­mins from a healthy, bal­anced diet that includes the following:
  • Plen­ty of green veg­eta­bles, fresh fruits, and leafy, 
  • Dairy prod­ucts like yogurt and cheese, and milk.
  • Pro­tein like meat, chick­en, eggs, and fish
  • Whole grains like brown rice and steel-cut oats and
For all what we men­tioned of being hard to achieve those nutri­ents goal, it’s why some pedi­a­tri­cians may rec­om­mend a dai­ly mul­ti­vi­t­a­min or min­er­al sup­ple­ment under cer­tain cir­cum­stances like:
  • Chil­dren with celi­ac or inflam­ma­to­ry bow­el dis­eases may have dif­fi­cul­ty absorb­ing sev­er­al vit­a­mins and min­er­als, espe­cial­ly iron, zinc and vit­a­min D. This is because these dis­eases cause dam­age to the areas of the gut that absorb micronutrients.
  • Chil­dren on a dairy-free diet (they may need a cal­ci­um sup­ple­ment), oth­ers on a veg­e­tar­i­an diet (they may need an iron sup­ple­ment), or oth­er restrict­ed diets.
  • Kids eat a lot of con­ve­nience food, fast food, and processed food.
  • Chil­dren who drink a lot of sodas can wash away vit­a­mins and min­er­als from their bodies.
  • Chil­dren who aren’t eat­ing well-bal­anced, reg­u­lar meals made from fresh, whole foods
  • Fussy eaters who sim­ply aren’t eat­ing enough.
If you decide to go with some vit­a­mins sup­ple­ment for your kids, below are some experts’ tips for a suc­cess­ful go! 1- Always keep in mind to talk with your doc­tor about how much and what sources of sup­ple­ments are right for your child. 2- Pedi­a­tri­cians don’t rec­om­mend gum­my vit­a­mins as it is not good for kids’ teeth but if you decide to go with them to attract your kids, just be sure to have them brush and floss their teeth well. 3- You’ll have to be cau­tious that your young kids mis­take these for can­dy and ingest too much from them. 4‑Be sure to talk with your kid’s doc­tor before start­ing a sup­ple­ment if your child is on any kind of medication. So, now we all know that kids require an amount from pret­ty much any vit­a­min out there, but some real­ly mat­ter more than you might imagine.

- Which Vitamins Do My Kids Need?

1- Vitamin D

Get­ting enough vit­a­min D is essen­tial so kids’ bones can grow strong and their immune sys­tems can turn away illness. Vit­a­min D gets into our body through the absorp­tion of sun­light and the inges­tion of food. From April through the end of Octo­ber, spend­ing just 15 to 30 min­utes out­side in the mid­dle of the day with hands and face exposed will stim­u­late the skin to make all the vit­a­min D your child needs.  Foods such as salmon, sar­dines, tuna, cod liv­er oil, and egg yolks con­tain a lot of vit­a­min D. Not all dairy prod­ucts are for­ti­fied with vit­a­min D, how­ev­er, so make sure to read the labels.

- When Vitamin D Supplements Are Helpful?

Dur­ing the fall and win­ter, it’s good to give your child a vit­a­min. Most over-the-counter children’s vit­a­mins con­tain 400 IU of vit­a­min D, the rec­om­mend­ed dai­ly allowance set by the FDA for infants and chil­dren under four years of age. Chil­dren who are obese, have dark skin, rarely go out­side or wear cloth­ing that cov­ers most of their skin may need sup­ple­ments to ensure ade­quate vit­a­min D lev­els all year round.  Dis­cuss your child’s med­ical his­to­ry and lifestyle with your doc­tor, and he/she can then deter­mine your child’s dai­ly vit­a­min D requirement.

2- Vitamin A

Vit­a­min A is impor­tant for healthy skin and nor­mal growth and helps vision and tis­sue repair. Vit­a­min A can be found in rich quan­ti­ties in yel­low and orange veg­eta­bles, dairy prod­ucts, and the liver.

- When Vitamin A Supplements Are Helpful?

Vit­a­min A sup­ple­ments aren’t nec­es­sary for most healthy chil­dren who are grow­ing nor­mal­ly. How­ev­er, if you believe your kids might have vit­a­min A defi­cien­cy because of low nutri­ent intake for what­ev­er rea­son, take the first step and talk to your doc­tor about your con­cerns and the appro­pri­ate dosage for your kid’s age.

3- Vitamin B

Vit­a­min B helps the body pro­duce red blood cells and assists in meta­bol­ic activ­i­ties. Vit­a­min B is found in meat, poul­try, fish, milk, eggs, whole grains, and enriched bread and cereals.

- When Vitamin A Supplements Are Helpful?

While most kids will be able to obtain enough Vit­a­min B through their diet alone, some chil­dren with aller­gies or dietary restric­tions or might not be able to get suf­fi­cient Vit­a­min B with­out sup­ple­ments. It’s cru­cial to ensure that your child is get­ting enough Vit­a­min B to avoid Vit­a­min B defi­cien­cy. If you are wor­ried that your kid isn’t get­ting enough Vit­a­min B for any rea­son, talk to your doc­tor about your con­cerns and move ahead with know­ing the ade­quate dose.

4- Vitamin C

Vit­a­min C helps repair and form tis­sues, red blood cells, and bones. It helps your kid’s gums stay healthy and strength­ens your child’s blood ves­sels, min­i­miz­ing bruis­ing from scrapes and falls. Also, vit­a­min C helps cuts and wounds heal, boosts the immune sys­tem, and keeps infec­tions away. And it aids the body in absorb­ing iron from oth­er food sources.

- When Vitamin C Supplements Are Helpful?

Chil­dren who are picky eaters and don’t eat many veg­eta­bles and fruits may not get enough vit­a­min C. If you’re con­cerned that your child does­n’t get enough vit­a­min C, ask your child’s doc­tor whether you need to boost your child’s intake. Your kid does­n’t have to get enough vit­a­min C every day. Instead, aim to get the rec­om­mend­ed amount as an aver­age over a few days or a week.

5- Iron

Iron is an essen­tial min­er­al for the growth and devel­op­ment of kids and adults. Espe­cial­ly for rapid­ly grow­ing kids, iron is a nec­es­sary nutri­ent. It per­mits the body to pro­duce hemo­glo­bin, which car­ries oxy­gen from the lungs in red blood cells through­out the body. Kids can get iron from beans, fish, turkey, beef and many others. If your kid’s diet lacks iron, he/she might devel­op an iron defi­cien­cy condition. Iron defi­cien­cy is a con­di­tion in which blood doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells. Untreat­ed iron defi­cien­cy can affect a child’s growth and development.

- When Are Iron Supplements Helpful?

Kids who are picky eaters or eat a pri­mar­i­ly veg­an diet may not get enough iron. Teen girls with heavy men­stru­al flows may need more iron intake; some dis­eases, like Crohn’s dis­ease, can cause low iron lev­els in kids. If you’re wor­ried about your child’s iron lev­els, talk with your doc­tor. They will take a sam­ple of your kid’s blood to test the amount of iron in the red blood cells. Your doc­tor may pre­scribe an iron sup­ple­men­tif your kid needs more iron. Make sure to use it exact­ly as your doc­tor pre­scribes. It can take up to three months for the treat­ment to work.

6- Calcium

Chil­dren need enough cal­ci­um to sup­port their grow­ing bones and teeth dur­ing their child­hood and teenage years. Cal­ci­um is one of the body’s most essen­tial min­er­als. Also, it has oth­er cru­cial roles to play, includ­ing sup­port­ing healthy mus­cle func­tion and the ner­vous system. Chil­dren who do not take in enough cal­ci­um are more sus­cep­ti­ble to devel­op­ing weak bones lat­er in life.

- When Are Calcium Supplements Helpful?

Ide­al­ly, kids should obtain an appro­pri­ate amount of cal­ci­um from their diet. How­ev­er, in cas­es where this is just not pos­si­ble for a par­tic­u­lar rea­son we have dis­cussed before or oth­ers to con­sid­er, a cal­ci­um sup­ple­ment spe­cial­ly for­mu­lat­ed for kids may be beneficial. A cal­ci­um-con­tain­ing sup­ple­ment will help top up your child’s cal­ci­um intake, help­ing them devel­op strong, healthy teeth and bones that will lay the foun­da­tion for opti­mal health in years to come.

7- Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Do kids need vitamins l Should I give my child vitamins Omega-3s are essen­tial fat­ty acids that help nour­ish the brain and keep it healthy. Omega-3s are part of the process of build­ing new cells — the key to flour­ish­ing the cen­tral ner­vous and car­dio­vas­cu­lar sys­tems and assist­ing the body in absorb­ing nutri­ents. Omega‑3 fats also are essen­tial for eye function. To meet the rec­om­mend­ed dai­ly needs of omega‑3 fats for kids, look for these food sources: Salmon, Sar­dines, Pacif­ic Chub, Mack­er­el, Canned light tuna, Fresh­wa­ter Trout, Her­ring, Oys­ters, Shrimp, Beef, Flaxseeds, Wal­nuts, Chia seeds and Soybeans.

- When Omega 3 Fatty Acids supplements Are Helpful?

Omega 3 fat­ty acids are cru­cial for kids. They play a crit­i­cal role in growth and devel­op­ment and are asso­ci­at­ed with var­i­ous health benefits. How­ev­er, many par­ents are unsure whether omega‑3 sup­ple­ments are nec­es­sary or safe for their children. The evi­dence on hav­ing ben­e­fits for kids is mixed. Stud­ies showed that in healthy school-age chil­dren, tak­ing an omega‑3 sup­ple­ment seems to have lit­tle effect on school per­for­mance and cog­ni­tive abil­i­ty. There appear to be more ben­e­fits in kids with Atten­tion Deficit Hyper­ac­tiv­i­ty Dis­or­der ( ADHD ). If you’re inter­est­ed in hav­ing your kid take an omega‑3 fat­ty acid dietary sup­ple­ment, make an appoint­ment to talk to your doc­tor first. He/she can review your kid’s cur­rent med­ica­tions, med­ical his­to­ry,  and over­all health. Based on those aspects, she/he will dis­cuss with you in more detail the poten­tial risks and ben­e­fits asso­ci­at­ed with using this sup­ple­ment.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are var­i­ous vit­a­mins that your child needs to grow and stay healthy. This can take quite a lot of time to iden­ti­fy on your own, and even so, it can be hard to access all of those naturally. That’s why hav­ing the right vit­a­mins and sup­ple­ments can be great for your child. Yes, this is not going to be easy, but if you man­age it cor­rect­ly, noth­ing will be able to stand in the way of a bet­ter and healthy lifestyle for your pre­cious ones!  

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