What are the benefits of multivitamin gummies for kids?
Oh, multivitamins!
Why is that necessary for my kids?
Isn’t food enough to get all daily vitamins?
Is it okay to start giving children’s supplements at such a young age?
To answer any of your concerns, let’s understand the world of multivitamins.
Multivitamins consists of different vitamins and minerals in a form of a tablet, capsules, powders, liquids and chewable gummies. Interestingly, there are about 13 vitamins and 15 minerals which are essential for our health.
These daily vitamins are essential for growth, maintenance, reproduction, keeping your body regulation in check. Also, they help in producing enzymes and hormones, boosting your immunity and keeping the nerve and organs running properly
Several studies have shown potential benefits of multivitamins. So let’s understand benefits of some macro vitamins and its role in our body.
Vitamin D: Vitamin D, is also called the sunshine vitamin as one of its major source is sunshine. Its primarily responsible for the regulation of calcium and phosphorus in the bones. It is difficult to achieve the recommended dose of Vitamin D in kids especially in the current times and also because the diet is a poor source of obtaining this vitamin. Its deficiency not only impacts musculoskeletal health but also varied acute and chronic diseases that need to be corrected majorly through supplements. ICMR recommends 600 IU of Vitamin D for kids, which is equivalent to taking nearly 20 eggs a day – as the egg yolk gives 37 IU of the vitamin.
Vitamin C: It is an antioxidant that protects the cells from damaging and helps to make and repair collagen. ICMR recommends 35 mg for children 4-6 year old in a day as growing children undergo various physiological, psychological and cognitive changes. Their immunity is often challenged by pathogens that are not always achieved, as poor eating habits are quite common in this age group. This raises the need to supplement the diet with Vitamin C as it also helps the body absorb iron from the food sources.
Vitamin A: Vitamin A is an important antioxidant for normal vision, the immune system, bone health, cell functions and reproduction. Children with clinical deficiencies of vitamin A is common in developing countries and are more likely to suffer from a variety of infectious diseases, and are at risk for visual problems, including blindness. Therefore, ICMR recommends 630 mcg of Vitamin A in a day for children 7-9 years old. To achieve this, one needs to consume foods with equivalence like 1 full cup of carrot in a day which might be difficult for some children to take every day.
Vitamin B12: Vitamins B12 help in DNA synthesis, energy metabolism and is also essential for brain development and cognitive function. Prevalence of Vitamins B12 deficiency is more than 40% in Indian population especially because this vitamin is largely sourced from non-vegetarian food items. Hence, it is imperative for vegetarians to keep a check on their daily Vitamin B12 requirement to benefit from this vitamin.
Iron: The most common nutritional deficiency is Iron deficiency causing anaemia which accounts for 56% in the age group of children 6-59 months. Iron, as we all know helps to make Haemoglobin and transfer oxygen to different parts of the body is required in different quantities in different age groups. 8-15 mg/day of Iron is needed from age 1-6 years as per ICMR. This is equivalent to consuming 3-5 cups of spinach in day for this age group.
It is very evident from the above facts that why multivitamin gummies are so essential on a daily basis especially when it is hard to achieve the recommended allowances.
TAKE HOME MESSAGE: It is not important to give multivitamins, if your child takes a balanced meal everyday. However, if he/ she is not being able to take a variety of foods or 4-5 bowls of vegetables everyday – then giving multivitamins as top up nutrition is a great idea.