Kids Vitamins – When You Should Start Giving Children’s Vitamins to Your Kids

Regardless of how hard you try to get your kids to eat nutritious, healthy meals, it’s simply a fact that most children do not get all the nutrients they need.  With the right children’s vitamins, you can ensure they are getting the nutrients they need to keep them thriving.

Babies and Children’s Vitamins
Many new parents worry that their babies are not getting enough vitamins and minerals through breast milk. Breast milk does meet babies’ complex nutritional needs. However, breast fed babies are often lacking in vitamin D which is necessary for producing strong bones.

Vitamin D is obtained through sun exposure and fortified foods. It is also found in most brands of children’s vitamins.  If your baby does not get sun exposure and isn’t drinking vitamin D fortified formula, it may be necessary to introduce children’s vitamins.

Toddlers and Children’s Vitamins
Once a child turns one, their diet is mostly solid foods and milk to fill their caloric needs. The majority of vitamins and minerals should be coming from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein, and dairy. Unfortunately, it’s not so easy to get kids to consume the recommended daily number of servings from each group.

Most dieticians will agree that the top nutrients for parents to closely monitor in their toddlers’ diets are:

• Calcium
• Fiber
• Folic acid
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Omega 3 fatty acids (DHA)
• Phosphorus
• Potassium
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• Zinc

The majority of kids do not get enough of one or more of these nutrients. Because of this, children’s vitamins can be beneficial. With the body and brain growing rapidly, particularly up to age three, a multi-vitamin can provide a little reassurance that all nutritional needs are being met.

How to Choose the Best Children’s Vitamins
It’s essential to carefully read the labels of children’s vitamins. Not all brands are created equal. Many parents are shocked to find out that some of the most popular brands contain additives including hydrogenated vegetable oil, artificial dyes, aspartame, and butylated hydroxytoluene (a preservative that is suspected to be a carcinogen). Labels should indicate that vitamins contain 50 to 100 percent of the daily recommended value of each key nutrient.

A good place to start is to look at natural children’s vitamins such as Nature’s Plus Animal Parade children’s vitamins and supplements. This line of vitamins takes the guesswork out of nutritional supplementation and makes it easy for you and your kids. 

Using Diet and the Best Vitamins for Kids to Combat Childhood Obesity

Could the best vitamins for kids help solve the obesity crisis in the United States? Childhood obesity has become a problem of nearly epidemic proportions throughout the country. In fact, one out of three children is considered to be overweight or obese and the obesity rate has more than tripled in the last 50 years.

Two primary factors have contributed more to the obesity crisis than any others. First, children today are getting less exercise and playtime than previous generations. With the rise of video games, hand-held mobile devices, PCs, and cable TV, kids are spending more time in front of screens and far less time outside playing
The second factor is nutrition. With busy schedules, parents are less likely to be feeding their children home-cooked meals and are more often heading through the drive-thru line after work. With processed, high-fat, high-sodium food on the menu most nights, weight gain is nearly inevitable, particularly when it’s coupled with low amounts of physical activity.

A healthy diet and a regular exercise regime are essential for every child’s good health. This means meals rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, and low-fat dairy. Highly processed, fried, or sugary foods should be avoided.

Of course, offering healthy meals and getting kids to eat them are two different things. Picky eaters can often be lacking in essential vitamins and nutrients. This is when it makes sense to supplement with one of the best vitamins for kids on the market. Children’s vitamins that contain a balanced formula of vitamins and minerals can actually help reduce fat and jump start weight loss while also filling in the nutritional gaps.

A study from 2010 showed that children’s vitamins combined with a healthy, well-balanced diet can stimulate a rise in basal metabolic rate (the rate at which the body burns calories when at rest). As well, specific vitamins within supplements have weight-loss effects. For example, a lack of vitamin D, which may be the most common deficiency in the United States, can contribute to weight gain. Thus, taking a multivitamin with vitamin D can be beneficial. As well, B vitamins and calcium can also help support healthy weight loss.

Of course, the best vitamins for kids are those that have natural flavor and aren't sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. You will also want to choose a formula that is hypo-allergenic, gluten-free, or vegetarian if you have a child who is on a restricted diet due to health issues.

By combining a good diet and children’s vitamins, you can help promote a healthy lifestyle that will help prevent weight gain now and into the future.

Why Doctors Recommend Children’s Multivitamins

It’s a simple fact that all children need vitamins and minerals for healthy growth and development. This includes vitamin C, D, iron, calcium, and folic acid. Of course, not children can obtain sufficient levels of these nutrients through their diet. When this occurs, pediatricians will recommend children’s multivitamins to ensure that a child consistently gets enough nutrients.

So, what are the specific situations that would warrant a pediatrician to recommend children’s multivitamins? The following are some of the most common reasons:

Picky Eating – Children who have limited diets because of food preferences and aversions may need a well-balanced formula of children’s multivitamins that contain all essential and non-essential vitamins, as well as minerals.

Vegan or Vegetarian Diet – May need supplementation of vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, calcium and zinc if they are not consuming enough fortified foods.

Milk Allergies – Children with allergies and intolerances to milk are often deficient in vitamin D and calcium.

Too Much Junk Food – Chips, cookies, sodas, and fast food are low in nutrients. Kids that eat diets primarily consisting of junk or fast food can benefit from a children’s multivitamin and mineral supplement

Certain Medical Conditions – Children diagnosed with certain conditions such as cystic fibrosis, autism, epilepsy, diabetes, short bowel syndrome, and malabsorption may need additional supplementation.

What to Look for in Children’s Vitamins
Not all multivitamins have the same number of vitamins and minerals as others. Because of this, it’s important to closely read labels. The best supplement will be the one that has only the specific vitamins and minerals your child needs.

Other nutrients such as fish oil and probiotics are also commonly found in children’s vitamins. Your doctor can tell you if these are beneficial for your child. With the right brand and formula, your child can get the additional nutrition required for good health. Start by talking to your family doctor or your child’s pediatrician and choose a formula based on his or her recommendation of what is best for your child.

Minimize Antibiotics Usage with Children’s Vitamins

In a study conducted by CDC researchers, U.S. doctors are prescribing enough antibiotics to give them to four out of five Americans each year. This alarmingly high level of prescribing antibiotics suggests that they are being widely overused. For children, this over usage could lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This has resulted in some pediatricians leading the way in cutting down on antibiotic usage by making recommendations to parents to use preventative strategies like giving children’s vitamins to keep children healthy.

The most frequently prescribed antibiotic is azithromycin which is commonly used to treat upper respiratory infections. However, most colds and flus, which have respiratory symptoms, can be treated with over-the-counter remedies such as pain-relievers and decongestants. Preventative strategies, such as regular hand-washing, a balanced diet, adequate rest, flu shots, and children’s multivitamins, can go a long way towards minimizing a child’s chance of getting sick in the first place.

During the swine flu pandemic of 2009 and 2010, children with flu-related pneumonia were widely treated with antibiotics to prevent serious complications. While this was a smart medical decision, preventing flu transmission would have been even more effective and would have minimized the overuse of antibiotics that may eventually lead to the development of even more serious viruses.

Interestingly, the highest rates of antibiotic usage were found to be in the South and Appalachia. The lowest rates were found in Alaska, Oregon, and California. As more is learned about the overuse of antibiotics, new protocols that are rolled out worldwide will certainly be developed to help doctors, as well as patients, determine when antibiotics are or aren’t needed. In the meantime, taking a proactive stance with children’s multivitamins and other preventative strategies may just be the best response to this growing problem.