Nutrition Supplements for Children

 

 

Food quality has improved or reduced, is one thing we cannot comment about, these days but food manipulation has increased and ones appetite for nutritious food has definitely reduced. However, awareness for Organic farming and choosing Organic food has increased...if the items cultivated are truly organic or not is another big question...with all these things confusing our brains, should we offer nutrition supplements to children or not is something we cannot keep postponing to find an answer for and delay if they are necessary.

This is the time that parents need to be smart and calculate the number of fresh fruit, dairy and veggie servings children consume per day and realise if there be a need to offer supplements to cover for any deficient nutrition. For Children who are seriously picky eaters, they tend to lack necessary iron and calcium firstly, followed by other important vitamins such as vitamin A, B etc.

 

Assuming that all children these days have vitamin and mineral deficiencies is not the right thing...Parents need not follow the common trendy 'picking on the kids' pattern and behaviour..instead, they have to observe the meal and snack schedule of every child and assess their nutrient intake...if they feel the child is looking healthy enough and eating and drinking normally then there is usually no worry. For the same reason, it is important to visit a pediatrition atleast once every year, the best practice being 'a markup visit every year after the child's birthday', making sure the Doctor checks the weight, height, hearing ability and eye-sight, iron and calcium levels of the child's body, and confirms that the child is growing up healthy and normal.

Consulting the Doctor about offering supplements to the child is a smart thing to do before considering to start a regime on your own. The child may have allergic reactions to certain ingredients, or those multivitamins might clash with some other medications the child is already taking and such. Keeping these concerns aside, if you decide to give supplements and find the right kind, there are quite good number of options for every child, the most famous gummy treats kind, tonics, calcium-tablets kind and milk powders too, come along in multiple flavors and colors.

Considering a family that has atleast one parent who is health conscious and takes care of others in the family, there may not be any deficiencies atall, in that case, supplementing may cause over dose of vitamins and minerals as certain breakfast cereals and store-bought milk are sold with added vitamins and iron. Also, doing a thorough research on the ingredients of every nutrition supplement brand product is important..you dont want to end up buying a product that is famous, yet includes harmful and artificial chemicals that do no good to your child either. Be smart and choose foods and supplements correctly !

..Prathyusha