(9-2009)
Summary
Children need them. A child's body also needs more than the minimum amounts of nutrients to develop properly. However, it has not been possible to find a Children's chewable that has anything close to the range of nutrients the Ultimate Foundation has. Part of the reason is that some nutrients have a very bitter taste and are difficult to put into a chewable tablet. They are not much good if children won’t take them or eat them. We are looking at different formulas and methods of delivery to offer our own children's vitamin in the future. Until then, we looked at 110 children’s multi-vitamin/minerals available and selected 3 of the top 6 ones that are easily available. This gives you more than one possibility if are not fond of the taste of one of them. They are listed in the “Additional Supplements” section.
Some More Information
We will be adding more articles in the future but will add a brief note here. Studies have concluded that a very small percentage of children are getting their nutritional requirements, even in rich countries such as the US. This is partly due to parents setting poor examples. In addition, there is the impact of smart marketing of foods that are not nutritious to kids. Parents must begin to set good examples and also help their kids develop good dietary habits and learn to make better food choices
Some Examples:
1. Reduce the processed and refined foods offered to them.
2. Reduce simple carbohydrates.
3. Limit refined sugar intake.
4. Hesitate on foods with preservatives.
5. Resist artificial color and flavoring.
6. Reduce saturated fats.
In addition to the broad range of nutrients represented in our Ultimate Foundation, many child nutritionists have suggested that the following item are especially needed to help children develop properly but are lacking in many children formulas.
Immune System
• Vitamin B
• Vitamin C
• Antioxidants, such as beta-carotene
Metabolism
• Magnesium to help with calcium and vitamin C metabolism.
Cell Growth
• Folic acid is essential for supporting the growth and reproduction of body cells.
Thyroid Health and Energy Support
• Iodine not only helps the Thyroid but it helps the body produce energy and burn excess fat.
Vitamin D should also be added to the list unless your child is often in the sun. Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) decided to double the amount of vitamin D it recommended for infants, children and adolescents. The new guidelines suggest an intake of 400 IU of vitamin D per day, as opposed to the 200 IU per day they used to recommend. We would like to see more in the fall and winter. This must be met by an appropriate dietary supplement unless the children receive a lot of sunshine.
The Endocrine Society had earlier raised doubts about the previous Vitamin D recommendations not being sufficient even to the extent of ensuring essential levels needed by children. Apparently, the new guidelines are resulting from a wide ranging deficiency of Vitamin D in infants, children, and adolescents. This has lead to a large number of cases or Rickets in the US. The new recommendations, to provide health supplements to children, apply even to infants.
Recent studies have shown that 400 units of vitamin D a day will benefit children in a two-fold way. One is by preventing rickets, and two by treating it.
Also, since it's difficult to assess a safe level of sunlight exposure to an individual to help vitamin D production. This can be made up for with health supplements of vitamin D. Rickets in children and adolescents is the primary reason why kids should take sufficient amounts of the vitamin. Aside from nutritional supplements, Vitamin D is also found in dairy products (viz. cheese, butter, cream, fortified milk), fish, oysters, fortified cereals and margarine. But the diet supplements are always an option that is effective.
