Important Vitamins and Minerals for Children
Vitamins and minerals that are particularly important for children are listed below.
- Vitamin A: Good sources include milk, cheese, eggs, and yellow-to-orange vegetables like carrots, yams, and squash
- B vitamins: good sources include meat, chicken, fish, nuts, eggs, milk, cheese, beans, and soybeans.
- Vitamin C: good sources include citrus fruit, strawberries, kiwi, tomatoes, and green vegetables like broccoli.
- Vitamin D: good sources include milk, cheese, and yogurt (especially fortified dairy products), egg yolks, and fish oil.
- Calcium: Good sources include milk, cheese, yogurt, tofu, and calcium-fortified orange juice.
- Iron: Good sources include beef and other red meats, turkey, pork, spinach, beans, and prunes.
The majority of children will obtain adequate quantities of these vitamins and minerals if they consume a healthy well-balanced diet.
Why Should Children take Multivitamins?
Children who may benefit from vitamin supplements include:
- Those children who do not eat a balanced diet that includes plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit.
- Children who are physically active.
- Kids on a vegetarian diet (they may need an iron supplement), a dairy-free diet (they may need a calcium supplement), or other restricted diets
We suggest Pharmaton Kiddi Health or Vivioptal Junior as two particularly well-balanced multivitamins that are suitable for children.
Other Nutrients that may be Beneficial for Children
- Aloe Vera: soothing when applied to burns
- Tea tree oil: antiseptic properties and can act as a repellent to head lice
- Echinacea: helps boost immune system and prevent against colds and flu’s etc
- Ginger: useful for preventing travel sickness
Infants and Vitamin D
Vitamin D is required in our body to support the functions of calcium in building and maintaining bones and teeth. Because our bodies can produce vitamin D from sunlight it is known as the ‘sunshine vitamin’.
As a result of our geographic location we receive inadequate sunlight, particularly in the winter months, to produce enough of this vitamin.
As babies grow rapidly between 0-12 months they have a greater need for vitamin D. Furthermore, because infants are covered up so much to protect their delicate skin from sun damage, supplementation with vitamin D is essential. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) recommends that
"All infants, whether breastfed or formula fed, should be given a daily supplement of 5µg (or 200 I.U) Vitamin D. This should be provided by a supplement containing vitamin D exclusively".
This recommendation has been endorsed by The Department of Health & Children.
Call into Lucan Village Pharmacy where one our staff members can advise you on the range of infant vitamin D products we stock.