“Ensuring children get adequate vitamins helps prevent multivitamin-linked nutritional deficiencies, especially for picky eaters”

Introduction	Role of Multivitamins	Incorporating Multivitamins in Diet
Sources	Recommendations

 

Big or Balanced: The Modern Diet Dilemma

In today’s fast-paced world, ensuring that children receive balanced nutrition has become a significant challenge[1,2,3]. Children being picky eaters are known for their selective eating habits[4,5]. Many kids reject vegetables, fruits, and other nutrient-rich foods in favor of more palatable but less nutritious options[6,7,8]. Convenience food like fast food, processed snacks and pre-packaged food have become a staple in many households[9,10,11,12]. Working parents frequently turn to these options to save time and energy[13, 14]. These foods are generally high in calories, sugars, and unhealthy fats, but are often either low or lacking in the essential micronutrient that children need to grow and thrive[11,15,16]. 

The combination of these factors, coupled with busy family schedules, makes it difficult for parents to consistently provide balanced meals to their growing kids. A lack of balanced nutrition can lead to deficiencies in essential vitamins (and minerals) necessary for the healthy growth and development of children[17]. 

In the modern time, multivitamins (and multimineral) supplements have emerged as a timely and valuable option for parents to support the nutritional needs of their growing children[18,19]. 

The Role of Multivitamins

Different vitamins are essential micronutrients for children's overall growth and development, because they play vital roles in various bodily functions. Here’s why they are important for growing kids:

Supporting Growth and Development

All the 13 vitamins are essential for optimum growth and development of kids[20,21,22]. A few key vitamins like Vitamin A and D are vital  for the eyes and bones, respectively[22]. Vitamin A is essential for healthy vision, immune function, and cell growth[23,24]. Vitamin D is crucial for the growth and development of bones and muscles as it helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorous[25,26]. 

Boosting Immune Health

Vitamins are crucial for maintaining and enhancing a healthy immune system to fight off infections. Vitamins such as C, along with A and E, play an important role in strengthening a child’s immune system. Regular intake of these vitamins through food or multivitamins supplements can help reduce the frequency and severity of illnesses in children[27,28,29,30,31].

Energy Production and Metabolism

B group of vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6, B12) are required in energy production by helping convert food into energy[32,33]. 

Cognitive Development and Function

B9 and B12 vitamins play a significant role in brain development and cognitive function. They can support learning, memory, and overall brain performance[34,35,36].

Incorporating Multivitamins Supplement into Daily Routine

It is suggested that vitamin-related nutritional deficiencies are not common in the US populations. However, many reports, including the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report, have pointed out deficiencies in essential nutrients among the U.S. population, including children[37,38,39]. 

Ensuring children get adequate vitamins helps prevent multivitamin-linked nutritional deficiencies that can lead to health problems such as rickets (Vitamin D deficiency), scurvy (Vitamin C deficiency), and anemia (Vitamin B12 and iron deficiencies) and skin-related conditions[40,41,42].

For comprehensive vitamin coverage, multivitamins supplements are an excellent choice for today’s parents, especially for those who have picky eaters at home or have children with diverse abilities[43,44,45]. Multivitamins supplements are specially formulated to provide a complete spectrum of essential vitamins, including those that might be missing from a child’s diet[46,47,48]. The scientific and careful formulation ensures that children receive these essential micronutrients in recommended doses for their overall optimum health and development[49,50,51,52].

When selecting a multivitamin for your child, it’s essential to consider a few important points:

Age-Appropriate Formulation: It is critical to note that the doses required by kids are lower compared to those required by adults. Additionally, kids in different age groups need different recommended doses of vitamins [52,53]. Giving children multivitamins below or over the recommended dosage can lead to either under-consumption or over-consumption of vitamins[22]. It is significantly important  to choose a multivitamin that is specifically formulated for your child’s age group to ensure the correct dosage and nutrient balance[19,54,55,56,57].

Quality of Multivitamins is important: Always look for the companies and products that have been formulated in FDA inspected site and have GMP (good manufacturing facility) certifications. For those with cultural or dietary requirements, such as halal, kosher, or vegan, there are multivitamin options available to meet these needs. Always look for the respective certification on multivitamin packaging[49,50]. 

Consultation with Healthcare Providers: Vitamins fall into two broad groups: fat-soluble and water-soluble[58,59]. Water-soluble vitamins (vitamin B complex, and vitamin C) do not stay for in the body for long compared to fat-soluble vitamins (vitamin A, D, E, and K) that are deposited in the body along with fat[60]. Their continuous intake, especially that of fat-soluble vitamins, can lead to overconsumption (hypervitaminosis)[59,61,62,63]. Therefore, it is crucial to consult with your child’s pediatrician before starting any multivitamin supplement regimen. They can provide personalized recommendations based on your child’s specific dietary needs and health status[18,64,65].

Ensuring Adequate Vitamin Intake

Balanced Diet: incorporate a variety fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, lean proteins, dairy and nuts (excluding if kids have nut allergies) in kids day-today diet. Include foods fortified with essential vitamins, such as milk fortified with vitamin D[66,67,68,69].

Sun Exposure: Ensure children get enough sunlight for natural vitamin D synthesis[70,71].

Supplements: Consult your child’s pediatrician to see if a multivitamin supplement is necessary, especially for picky eaters or those with special needs and dietary restrictions [22,72,73,74].

Multivitamins: A Gateway to a Healthy Life

Multivitamin supplements, alongside fortified food, offer a practical solution to help fill nutritional gaps and support healthy growth and development accommodating parent’s busy lifestyle. By choosing the right multivitamin supplement and incorporating it into a daily routine, parents can help their children build a foundation for lifelong health and well-being. Intake of vitamins through supplements to fulfill recommended levels becomes crucial in cases of impaired or deficient absorption, food and sun allergies, and heavy or complete dependence on plant-based diets. However, it's important to emphasize that multivitamins should complement, rather than replace, a balanced diet and healthy dietary habits

In summary, while a well-balanced diet is the best way for children to get the nutrients they need, multivitamins supplements are beneficial too to support their overall health and development. 

It is significantly important that they should be used thoughtfully within the recommended dosage limits and under the guidance of a healthcare professional.

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