Specific Vitamins needs for Children

Vitamins for Children
By: Dr. Obikoya

Are vitamins important to children? Can children use vitamins? How much vitamins should children be given? It is legendary that children do not like vegetables, known to be rich in vitamins and minerals. Does this mean they need vitamin supplements? These are all important questions that parents often seek answers to.

Vitamins are, by definition, substances we need for our body to function normally. Does this rule exclude children? We need vitamins for healthy vision, to grow, to make bones and connective tissue, to fight infections, diseases and cancer, to heal wounds, to prevent us bleeding to death, and to keep our teeth healthy and strong. Don’t these also apply to children?

That we need sufficient intakes of vitamins to be healthy is not in doubt. So is the fact that we cannot produce enough of vitamins to meet our needs. We, therefore, need to take them from outside sources, our diet and from commercial nutritional supplements.

Not many of us eat a balanced diet on a regular basis if at all, nor do we give our children a daily balanced diet. The exigencies of modern living have made sure we are not home long enough or have enough time when are to prepare regular balanced meals for ourselves and our children. Indeed, more people are eating out most times. Now, this is a serious problem for us as adults, but is even more serious for children still growing.

As if the above is not enough to contend with, there are periods in the lives of growing children when they tend to be very choosy about what they eat: we are all familiar with the fast-food phenomenon. In fact, some of them don’t even want to eat at all. One of the challenges of parenting is to ensure their children eat and eat a balanced diet but is this so in many instances?

How are the highly processed foods of our times and the fact that even our fruits and vegetables are often grown using agricultural techniques that minimize the vitamin and mineral contents affecting our abilities to get sufficient vitamins from what we eat? Don’t all these mean it is imperative we give our children multivitamins as supplements to the vitamins they get in their food?

There is no doubt that we all will answer this question in the affirmative. Indeed, it is recommended that children who began eating solid food at six months be given vitamin supplements by age one. Most children acquire adequate vitamins in breast milk and infant formula before their first birthday if they do not suffer from any disease preventing them from doing so. It may be necessary to give children that do not get enough exposure to sunlight vitamin D before then.

Toddlers and preschoolers are often picky about their foods. They will need supplemental multivitamins in particular. As these children grow, their tastes change and over time and usually start to eat a more balanced diet. You should give children vitamins during these years as well to ensure they are well nourished and are getting the nutrients they need to ensure normal growth and development.

Children that are deficient in vitamins suffer from the same symptoms and signs specific to the vitamin they lack. Indeed, because children’s body and immune systems are not developed as those of adults, they are more susceptible to the ravaging consequences of vitamin deficiencies.

The effects of vitamin D deficiency on children exemplify this point. Babies who do not get enough or produce enough vitamin D can develop rickets, the failure of developing bones to form properly. In the absence of adequate amounts of vitamin D, the body steals calcium from the bones to keep the blood levels of calcium high enough for life. Breast-fed babies whose mothers do not get adequate time in the sun can develop rickets. This is true particularly in colder climates and in darker-skinned persons. Window panes and sometimes smog or haze can also block the sun’s rays a child needs to create vitamin D.

These children end up with brittle bones, often the first noticeable in their thin, pliable skull, which if pressed on can feel like pressing on a ping-pong ball. The head shape may be abnormal, teething delayed, and teeth improperly formed with many cavities. The wrists and ankles may appear swollen. The tips of the rib bones can enlarge creating a string of lumps called the rachitic rosary. Bowed legs, knock-knees, or fractures are common and these children tend to sweat more than average.

Babies need just an average of 400 IU of vitamin D per day to prevent rickets. Nursing mothers should also take lots of vitamin D and to try to get their babies outside the house several times a week, but please avoid sunburn. Vitamin D supplements should be given to make sure the child is getting something he or she critically needs. Check the milk formula you are giving your child to make sure it contains vitamin D and in sufficient amounts.

Giving your children vitamins will free you from worrying about their diet and make it possible to be more creative in feeding them in an effort to ensure they are well nourished. Note, however, that giving them excessive amounts of certain minerals such as iron can be unhealthy.