Children are known as picky eaters. Letting them eat a bunch of healthy whole foods is always a struggle. As children grow, every parents' goal is to ensure that they get enough nutrients - especially vitamins - to reach optimal health. You might be asking yourself: “What are the best ways to boost your kids’ vitamin intake?”

The best way to boost your kids' vitamin intake is to provide them with a well-balanced diet. That is already good enough for kids to meet their daily nutritional needs. However, children may need to take vitamin supplementation under certain circumstances.

In this post, you will learn the essential vitamins that kids need and discover ways to boost their vitamin intake. 

Your kid needs a lot of essential vitamins for growth, development, and good health. They include the following: 

Vitamin A

Also known as retinol, vitamin A promotes your kid's immune response and normal growth and development. It also supports eye and skin health and tissue and bone repair.

Vitamin B complex

This is a group of B vitamins that stand as the building blocks of a healthy body in which it contributes to infection prevention, and it supports cell metabolism, good digestion, proper nerve function, and eye, skin, muscle, and brain health.

For children's health, the essential vitamin Bs are

• Vitamin B1 (thiamin)
• Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
• Vitamin B3 (niacin)
• Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
• Vitamin B9 (folate)
• Vitamin B12 (cobalamin)

Vitamin C

Also known as ascorbic acid, this vitamin is essential for your kid's immune function, collagen production, wound healing, and connective tissue repair.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption to be able for kids to have healthy, strong bones. Insufficient supply of vitamin D can lead to rickets - the softening of the bones, which commonly occur in growing children.

Vitamin E

Also known as tocopherol or alpha-tocopherol, this vitamin is crucial for maintaining healthy eyes and skin and strengthening the body's immune response to fight against illness and infection.

Vitamin K

Known as the antihemorrhagic factor, vitamin K has an essential role in blood clotting. It also supports the production of other proteins needed for blood, bone, and kidney health.

Children's nutrient intake will depend on age, sex, size, growth, and activity level. See the table below for children's Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for specific vitamins: 

Source: National Institutes of Health

Dietary Approach

The best approach for your kid to get enough vitamins is by having a diet that contains a wide variety of foods coming from the five healthy food groups:

1. Vegetables - Green leafy and yellow vegetables
2. Fruits 
3. Grain foods – Bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, rice, corn, and so on
4. Dairy products – Milk, yogurt, and cheese
5. Lean meat and fish, poultry, eggs, tofu, legumes, and nuts.

Furthermore, you should also limit their sweets and refined foods consumption. A diet high in sugar, starches, bad fats, and sodium lowers heightens their risk of nutritional deficiencies.  Overall, kids who eat a healthy, balanced diet can usually fulfill their nutrient needs.

Multivitamin Supplementation

Apparently, multivitamin supplementation is not necessary for kids who eat a healthy, balanced diet.

However, we are all aware that most children are picky eaters. If that's not the case, some children are prone to nutritional deficiencies, especially they follow a vegetarian diet or have certain medical conditions that can interfere with nutrient absorption, such as cystic fibrosis or celiac disease.

These are the main reasons why some pediatricians would recommend giving them multivitamin supplements to prevent risks of deficiencies or nutritional gaps.

As a friendly reminder, note that increasing the dosage of some vitamins does not mean it is better. It can actually cause some specific vitamin toxicity.

Learn more: Do Kids Need Multivitamins?

When giving multivitamin supplementation, be sure to choose high-quality brands that hold sufficient doses ideal for your kids' age, and see to it that you have to stick to the recommended dosage.

Before you give your children any form of multivitamin supplementation, it is best to see their pediatrician and determine if they approve it. Besides that, the pediatrician might even recommend you a better multivitamin supplementation option that suits your child's health needs.

You can find a lot of multivitamins supplements in the market. These are the following questions that you should look into when choosing a multivitamin supplement for your child:

Does it contain high-quality and safe ingredients?

The best multivitamin supplements should be safe and have high-quality ingredients. They are also typically free of fillers, artificial flavors, food coloring, and preservatives.

Was it tested for safety?

The safest step that you'll do is to purchase the multivitamin supplement from reputable brands that have a third-party certification.

Does it contain safe amounts of dosage?

It should indicate that these multivitamin supplements are specifically formulated for kids.

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Disclaimer:

The information provided on Nuzest is for educational and informational purposes only. The information provided on this site is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional advice or care. Please speak to your qualified healthcare professional in the event that something you have read here raises questions or concerns regarding your health.