Multivitamins & Kids

If you have young children, you know how easily the dinner table can become a battlefield. Getting kids to eat well is often a struggle, and parents worry that a chronically poor diet will jeopardize their child's health. One nutrition expert has a simple solution to your mealtime woes.

Meet Jack, Lucy and Anna. They're 3-year-old triplets with three distinct appetites. Jack is the pickiest.

Their mother, Heather Binks Lang, explains, "He will eat cereal bars, cheese, yogurt, and he will eat very few meats and vegetables."

Heather has little time for negotiating with the triplets and big brother Jeffrey. For peace of mind, she gives them a daily multivitamin supplement.

"One week they'll be eating well, the next week they're not eating. It just makes sense for me to keep them all on the vitamins all the time," says Heather.

Susan Roberts, Ph.D., a nutritionist at Tufts University in Boston, says multivitamins are actually a good idea for most kids. "Research shows that about 50 percent of kids are missing one of the big five nutrients -- vitamin B6, vitamin A, calcium, iron or zinc."

Should parents choose a supplement with extra iron or calcium? Roberts says no. "What you need to look for is the vitamins that call themselves complete because that means they have vitamins and minerals and a good spectrum of both," she says.

Her bottom-line advice for parents is: If your child is picky, consider a supplement. However, more importantly, encourage a variety of real foods.

Roberts warns parents not to go overboard on fortified foods. Fortified foods are unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and too much iron can be toxic to young children.

Source: Ivanhoe News


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