I have always purchased multiple bottles of children's vitamins, for my home and for the homes of my grandchildren. I have always believed children's vitamins were completely necessary. When the grandkids spend the night, the first thing we do in the morning is take our daily vitamin. The kids are used to it, and will even remind me. Some experts now say children who eat a well balanced diet do not need the vitamins. (Part of a well balanced diet would include green, leafy vegetables and steel cut oats or brown rice.) I wish it were easy to get children to eat these items, but it simply isn't. Kids are anything but food connoisseurs. They are finicky, picky little eaters who don't care if something isn't good for them. In fact, most kids associate food that is good for them as "yucky". If you slip something healthy onto their plates that they will eat, it is likely so 'processed' that the nutritional value has been depleted drastically. Kids want fast food, pizza, and carbonated beverages. Carbonated beverages rob their growing bodies of important minerals and vitamins. Active children can also deplete their body's resources faster than healthy meals alone can replace. Children with asthma or other medical conditions also need vitamins. An important ingredient in your child's daily diet is IRON. Kids need iron for healthy blood. Did you know most daily vitamins for children do not contain IRON? I have one grandson who has low iron levels, and I have to purchase a certain brand for him. Look for children's vitamins that say 'PLUS IRON' on the box. Be careful though, because you can give a child too much iron. We all know Calcium is a biggie, as it helps build strong bones. A, the B vitamins, C, and D are all important. (However, the best source of vitamin D is sunlight so don't let those kiddos become little couch potatoes.) Vitamins A, D, E, and K (as well as iron, as mentioned above) can be toxic in excess. Keep those delicious tasting candy-like vitamins out of reach of children! Do you feel children should take a daily vitamin? Are you a faithful advocate or doubting Thomas?
I think everyone should be taking a daily vitamin. Even eating a balanced diet can leave your body missing certain vitamins and minerals. Unless you are eating a balanced raw diet your vegetables might not be providing the nutrition you think they are. I personally feel much better and have more energy when I take my daily vitamins!
I was always brought up to believe that you don't need vitamins if you eat the right foods every day.
It is possible for children and any human to get all their vitamins from a well balanced diet. But what about the days you don't eat healthy, the day you travel etc. And what about the kids who just don't eat a lot of food. As a kid I ate a lot of variety of food, but I didn't eat very much of it. I got full quickly. There's no way I ate a high enough amount of food to get all my vitamins and nutrients.
I don't think children necessarily need vitamins and supplements. As you have said, as long as they are eating a well balanced meal they should be getting all of their essential vitamins and minerals from this. I did give my son a vitamin D drop daily when he was breastfeeding only til about 6 months old, especially in the colder months when he was not getting outside as much. It can be hard to get your child to eat right, but you gotta be creative! I found a great new snack made from peas for my son to eat so that he eats more veggies.
It's usually pretty difficult to get kids to eat well. You can serve them anything you want, but they will protest everything except for the four or five foods they like, which are probably all unhealthy. If you have a kid like that, you should probably supplement with vitamins.
Daily vitamins are good for everyone. I purchase my children vitamins all the time. I have one eater in particular who is very picky. It makes me feel better that some of the nutrition he could be getting from his meals is supplemented by his vitamin. He likes few things that are good for him. My kids love milk so I know they get plenty of vitamin D. My son as of late has been eating better. We eat at the table for all our meals but he still likes to pick and choose.
I have always thought the same thing. I am now realizing despite how healthy we eat, some of us will have some type of mineral or vitamin deficiency. Some bodies require a little more nutrients than others. From what I have studied, we are not born with the perfect nutrition. In fact, some babies are born with a nutrition deficiency given from the mother. I tried to eat perfect for both pregnancies. Looking back, I wish I was tested for vitamins and minerals in my body because I believe mine lacked certain minerals. With that being said, I can't seem to get enough nutrients from food now so I think it is very important to also take a daily vitamin, not just for myself but my children too.
Most kids aren't getting their nutrients from food. I would think that they need vitamins. Especially if you have a picky eater! I would just make sure to stick to the recommended dose. Anything over that is just going to get flushed out of their system. The kids will just pee it out and you'll be flushing your money down the drain!
I'm not a parent, but when I was a kid, I did take Flinstones children's vitamins for a while, and I didn't notice any change at all in my body. But I'm not really a picky eater, I eat fish and vegetables too. So maybe if the child is a picky eater then that's the time that parent should give them vitamins and supplements to compensate for the healthy foods that they don't want to eat.
I think kids will do fine if they eat well balanced meals, although a vitamin wouldn't hurt as long as given as instructed to help keep the kids healthy especially if they are picky eaters. I guess it would depend on each child and their eating habits, and if they would need a vitamin suppliement.
This is a big debate (in my own head lol), so I'm not commenting on what I think. Just make sure you know what you're buying. Just because it says you're getting whatever is on the label, doesn't necessarily mean you are. Besides, you don't actually know what you personally need without a bettering of tests and many things counteract or deplete other vitamins/nutrients. It's a big ol' science experiment. Your best bet is to just eat healthy, REAL foods. Vitamins won't matter if you eat junk anyway.
I wouldn't see why it would be a bad thing to provide children with vitamins or supplements if they eat healthy already. It's like protecting something halfway and stopping because "it's good enough". If it helps them grow, i think they should take more of those.
Definitely not. Children need a healthy balanced diet. Getting them into pill popping at an early age isn't a good idea IMHO. They need to learn about healthy foods and nutrition, not that they can eat what they like as long as they pop a multivitamin every day.
This is true. We have a pill popping epidemic in this country. I think adults and children alike should learn how to be responsible about our bodies and eating habits rather than assuming that a doctor and/or a pill will simply fix everything... But I also see how a logically thinking adult might be easier to convince of this than a fussy child.
That's the problem. Everyone relies on outside sources instead of taking responsibility. I think adults are just as hard and far more often harder to convince than children to be honest. Children are unhealthy now for a reason.
To be honest I think that extra vitamins can be beneficial but at the same time I just wouldn't give my child an overwhelming amount. If the child eats everything in good portions then there is just no need to give even more nutrients to him or her because their body is still growing.
I believe that some of us do and some don't. I have issues like allergies and psoriasis which is an autoimmune disease because of how bad the allergies are I need to take vitamins no matter what I eat so I think it's individual - vitamins are a huge help on the allergy and asthma front so if the child has anything I would say yes. Most kids don't eat all that healthy so I would give them to them anyhow.
Growing up, my parents did feed my sisters and I cod liver oil. That was just about the only supplement we took. I'm not quite sure of its benefits but we did grow up healthy and rarely sick.
