Health & Fitness >
Vitamins & Dietary Supplements
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedDo children need vitamin supplements?
Results so far:
| Yes | 66% | 159 votes | Total: 242 votes | |
| No | 34% | 83 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesCildren Need Supplements
The key to good mental health and good emotional health is a diet that is both nutritious and varied. These days it seems even the best diets do not provide adequate nutrients for kids and some kids need more of certain nutrients. From personal experience I can say that children can be very picky eaters. Providing a perfectly balanced meal in nutritional value can be a real challenge.
Supplement s are the most reliable method to ensure your child is getting appropriate levels of vitamins and minerals that are necessary for best nourishment. And is even more important if your child is having difficulty mentally or emotionally. There are so many excellent choices of vitamin and mineral supplements on the market these days. Just a small amount can have a great impact on a child that is growing. I wish I had been more aware of this fact when our kids were babies. I realized the importance of supplements when our son was born with a developmental delay.
Here are a few questions that one might have regarding Supplements.
When should I start Supplementing?
While you are breastfeeding you need to be taking supplements, which naturally gets passed on to your baby. As soon as you start weaning your child you should consider supplementing.
How do I choose the right Supplements?
There are 3 broad areas when it comes to children's supplements.
Multivit amins, essential fast, and mineral supplements that will incorporate all of the nutrients necessary for your child.
You can choose crushable, chewable, liquid, or soluble formulas depending on the age of the child and what they prefer. The best time to give your child supplements is with their breakfast. If you forget, or breakfast is not an option then give some time during the day, but never last thing at night because Vitamin B is a mild stimulant so you might not want that just before they go to bed.
It is also important to not let yourself be tempted to give a higher dosage then the recommended level unless you are under the direction of your doctor or nutritionist. Children are more at risk for vitamin toxicity than adults. And even though the dosages are well below toxicity levels some children are more sensitive then others so it is safer to stay at the recommended dosage.
Most times you will choose a chewable multivitamin and mineral, unless you are correcting a specific problem and your doctor suggests something particular. I personally like to buy the gummy bears because our kids love those things and can't wait for their morning vitamins. What you need to watch out for though is that the sugar level is not too high. Best way to avoid this would be to go to a local health food store and ask for advice. They usually are very helpful and if you find that they are not, go to the next health food store until you find someone that gives you the info you need.
Learn more about this author, Nancy Froese.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
Absolutely not! Human beings did not start out popping pills, did they? The human race is thousands of years old - we would not have survived all this time if we didn't have "the proper nutrients". I seriously dislike it when the school system, the federal government, or anybody really starts in on "your kid should have this, maybe he or she has an imbalance of that." It does happen that there is sometimes an imbalance, but that's because he or she isn't being fed!
I mean actual food here, not potato chips and jell-o. Yes, it is true that I myself take supplements - specific ones, though, for a medical reason, not because of something missing in my diet. I don't take fish oil pills, for instance - I eat the fish that I know to have omega-3 in them. They aren't hard to find in the supermarket, any more than fruit and vegetables are.
People are on the run these days, more than ever, so yes it's easier to say that popping a supplement will give you all the necessary vitamins and minerals you're missing while "on the go". That translates very easily to children as well. But to me it's the same thing as using the TV for a babysitter rather than reading to your kid; it isn't healthy for them. I think if the child - or you yourself - becomes dependent on supplement-popping whenever he or she feels "I'm hungry", in the end he or she is missing out.
We have teeth for a reason, and a digestive tract. And how much more do we really get out of a supplement as opposed to taking a few extra minutes at the start of the week to make a salad, or to make stew or fish and rice every so often? We are becoming too dependent on the technology of pills - if you want the nutrients, go towards nature instead.
You'll find all you want.
Learn more about this author, Jess Howe.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
- Vitamins & Dietary Supplements
- Do adults need vitamin supplements?
- Does vitamin e reduce the risk of breast cancer?
