Vitamins for Children?
Thursday, April 9th, 2009Advice from The First Lady of Fitness, Fashion, and Fun and Pittsburgh personal trainer and lifestyle coach, Jackie Omotalade:
When it comes to your kids and vitamin supplements, you should know that most children do not need extra or supplemental vitamins or minerals. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, if you base your children’s diet on the food guide pyramid, you shouldn’t need to give your child vitamin supplements. However, it is important to know that amongst all age groups, children can be the one that is the hardest to regulate diet. Children don’t understand what it means when something is essential for their bodies, and they are much more prone to be picky eaters or to have poor diets. If you child is eating a special diet, they might need more vitamins or minerals. These can include vegetarians, children with allergies, or children that have religions which state certain foods cannot be eaten.
As a parent, it is of the utmost importance that you make sure that your child has a healthy diet by ensuring that they are getting the proper amounts of the right kinds of vitamins and minerals. If this isn’t happening because of what they are eating, you either need to change what they are eating, or make sure that they are getting the vitamins in another way. Vitamin supplements can be purchased in kid-friendly shapes and flavors, so it shouldn’t be a problem to have your child take them.
There are several vitamins and minerals that are going to be important for your child to have enough of. These include, especially, iron, which is needed in children to prevent anemia. This usually happens if children aren’t given enough extra iron after they are six months old, which happens often if a baby drinks cow or goat milk instead of formula. Young and adolescent girls are also at a risk of having an iron deficiency.
Another important thing that children need is calcium. This is something that is completely necessary for healthy bones and teeth. If children are drinking milk and eating dairy products, they are probably getting enough calcium, but if they aren’t, you might need to supplement this in their diets.
It is also important that children are getting fluoride. This helps to build healthy teeth. However, it is important that they only get enough fluoride, and not too much, so don’t add to their intake unless your dentist or doctor thinks that you should.
If you don’t think that your child is getting enough vitamins or minerals, you should consult with your doctor to make sure that you can find a good balance and a good children ’s multivitamin for them to be taking.
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provides excellent tips of getting your child fit and maintaining your child’s fitness.
. Please consult with a physician before beginning any weight-loss program with your child. Children are not mini-adults and programs developed for them should reflect their areas of growth and maturity.