Many people wonder if children should take a daily multivitamin. Experts from the Mayo Clinic disagree on whether it’s necessary for all children, but why skip a multivitamin and take the chance of children not getting the proper nutrition? Children need their multiple vitamins as much as adults do, or even more. Government surveys have found that 90% of American adults do not get the recommended amounts of essential vitamins and minerals, so one can only image how much worse our children are eating.
Foods that are fortified are often pale imitations of the original whole foods, as nutrients have been stripped away by the processing that occurs. These foods rarely add nutrition similar to anything whole foods would have contained. The medical journal JAMA, recommends that most Americans take a daily vitamin. Unless your children have access to balanced meals at every mealtime, supplementing with multivitamin can be looked at as a cheap health insurance for your children. It is difficult for parents to make sure that children get the nutrition that they need, as event he most vigilant parents cannot be 100% sure that their children are getting all the nutrients that they need each and every day.
Actually, according to the USDA, 80% of children and adolescents eat less than the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables, while about half of all children aren’t getting enough calcium in their diets. A recent survey found that children between ages two and eighteen receive only about 40% of the daily value for vitamin A, 30% of the daily value for vitamin E, and 60% of the daily value for magnesium. The average American child also consumes insufficient quantities of other essential nutrients including iron, zinc, and vitamin B6. Although these deficiencies are not pronounced, if they are not corrected, over time they can rob a child of reaching his or her full potential as they impair growth, hinder immune defenses, and produce a wide range of shortcomings that are associated with marginal deficiencies.
Parents know that taste is extremely important to kids. Thankfully, the days of bad tasting vitamin tablets are over as there are now great tasting supplements on the market for kids. Parents should look for reputable manufactures by reviewing the packaging, checking online, and evaluating third party reviews or recommendations when choosing a multivitamin for their children. Most parents are primarily concerned with the cost, flavor, potency, and ingredients of multivitamins. One thing that is important to mention is that teenagers can use adult potency vitamins, although some may prefer children’s formulations due to better taste and easy administered forms.
When choosing a multivitamin, parents need to be aware that all vitamins are not equal. Therefore, it is important to look for quality and always be aware that natural vitamins and minerals are absorbed and assimilated better. Although they are not new to the market, omega-3 fatty acids for children are exciting right now, as research has found that they are helpful in proper brain development and mental acuity in children.
Parents are looking for organic ingredients, not necessarily new ingredients, for their children. However, parents need to be aware that vitamins and minerals cannot be certified as organically grown; just because they may be prepared in an organic media does not mean that they can change into something that can be organically certified. A whole food based vitamin and mineral supplement has a synergistic bonus to boost health and wellness in children as well as reduce medical bills on the parents by keeping their children healthier.