How to Choose Vitamins for Kids

Before kids learn how to speak, they make their nutritional preferences known by grabbing at a cookie or wrinkling their noses at green beans. Although we can't force children to eat all their vegetables, we can choose high quality vitamin supplements to help their growing bodies stay healthy.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Choose vitamins specifically designed for children. In addition to being chewable, these formulations have greater amounts of the specific vitamins essential for children's health.
2. Give her growing bones enough vitamin D. If you live in a cold climate where outdoor time is limited, you must provide you child at least 800 IU of vitamin D each day.
3. Use vitamin A with caution. Overdoses build up in fatty tissues and can cause liver toxicity. Instead, choose supplements with beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A and excretes more easily.
4. Limit artificial flavors and colors. The FDA reports that yellow dye number 5 can cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Research has linked red number 3 to cancer in animal studies.
5. Consider a standalone calcium supplement. Because it's a bulky mineral, most multivitamins contain less than 100 mg of calcium. Children need 800 to 1300 mg a day, depending on their age.
6. Pick vitamins with little or no added sweeteners. You can avoid the high-fructose corn syrup so ubiquitous in the American diet by choosing a vitamin sweetened with fruit juice concentrate.
7. Increase your child's vitamin C intake during cold and flu season. The body can't produce or store this vitamin and insufficient amounts decrease the body's ability to fight infections. Consider amounts between 50 mg and 1 g.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep vitamins out of children's reach. Accidental iron overdose is one of the most common forms of poisoning in children.
• Never exceed the recommended vitamin dosage without consulting a pediatrician.