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Do Kids Really Need to Take Vitamins
If you are like most parents, you are probably watching very closely what your children eat. Granted, you let them have the occasional ice cream treat or small bag of potato chips, but you won't push them if they don't want to finish either of those treats. On the other hand, if they are ready to push away their plate and the salad has not been touched, or the greens are still in the same neat pile that you deposited on the plate to begin with, you are much more likely to speak up and ask them to take at least a few bites. You know that those foods are packed with nutritional goodies, and you want to make sure your children are eating healthy. It is not surprising therefore that the vitamin industry has caught on, and multivitamins for children are heavily marketed. You can get the chewable kinds that come in the guises of various cartoon characters the children adore, or you can even get the gummy kind that is reminiscent of gummy bears. Yet do kids really need to take vitamins?
Scientists worldwide agree that vitamins are essential for the proper functioning of the body. Furthermore, the body cannot create vitamins; instead, they need to be ingested. Ideally, this takes place during meal times and snack times. If you avoid ingesting a certain vitamin, you will fall victim to an illness that is based on vitamin deficiency. For example, if you do not ingest vitamin C, you will eventually develop scurvy, which is a disease that will lead to spotted skin, bleeding membranes, anemia and spongy gums. You can get vitamin C from eating fruits and vegetables, drinking natural fruit juices made from citrus fruits. Conversely, if children do not ingest enough vitamin D, they may suffer from rickets. This disease inhibits the absorption of calcium and leads to brittle and malformed bones.
Vitamin D OsteoporosisVitamin D is a very essential fat soluble nutrient to our body. Vitamin D is made in the body of mast mammals. Two important sources of vitamin D are food sources and sunlight exposure. Fortified products ... It is apparent that vitamins are important enough to closely monitor your children's intake of them, but should you still supplement? Here is a list of reasons why your children should receive a vitamin supplement:
Your child has a gastric disease or other problem that prohibits her or him from properly digesting fats. Such diseases could be located in the liver, pancreas, intestine or stomach. If this is the case with your child, s/he will not be able to properly digest fat soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E and K.
If your child does not receive a wide variety of food, or simply refuses to eat certain foods. For example, if your child does not eat any dairy products no matter how nicely packaged and appetizingly displayed on a plate, you will need to supplement the calcium and vitamin D s/he is missing.
If you have an infant and are breastfeeding, your pediatrician may recommend some vitamin drops to ensure a proper intake of vitamin D.
If your infant was born prematurely, vitamins B and D will need to be supplemented to support the rapid growth that the baby will experience.
If your child is eating a vegan or even vegetarian diet, it is wise to supplement vitamin B 12 since this is most often found in animal proteins.
Your pediatrician might have other reasons for recommending that your child take a combination of vitamins or simply a multivitamin.
As you can see, there are a number of very good reasons why children need to take vitamins. At times parents will attempt to counteract their children's less than stellar eating habits with some vitamins. While this may sound good in theory, please note that an unhealthy eating habit cannot be corrected with a multivitamin. The only thing a parent can do at this point is to simply help the child to break the eating habit. A multivitamin will not cure the ingestion of two bags of potato chips per day! The only thing that will undo the damage of improper eating will be some gentle but firm redirection of your kids' eating habits. Perhaps you can introduce some new types of food or dress up some old favorites with new sauces, side dishes, or perhaps some new combinations of meals.
Please feel free to explore this website on Prenatal Vitamins Wfolic Acid and Prenatal Vitamins For Healthy Hair. I hope you will be able to use this information.
Vitamin D And Multiple SclerosisMultiple Sclerosis is a disease in which chronic degenerative occurs. Multiple sclerosis can be defined as gradual destruction of the myelin sheath protecting the nerves. This destruction occurs in patches ...
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