Does Your Child Need a Multivitamin?

Many parents think that because their children are picky eaters, they need to supply them with a multivitamin. The jury is still out on whether or not it is important to give children multivitamin supplements. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages and decide for yourself whether it is necessary in your child's diet.

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A growing child needs a variety of nutrients and minerals so that their body can continue to develop. However, a child doesn't need a large quantity of vitamins and minerals. How much variety you can introduce into your child's diet will be the key factor in determining multivitamin supplementation.

If your child absolutely refuses to consume entire food groups, you will probably need some help to get all of the necessary nutrients into their system. For instance, if they will not eat anything green, or any dairy, or even any produce, you should probably purchase a vitamin for them.

What types of vitamins are there?

Vitamins and minerals are not produced by your body, even though it needs them to function. A child needs up to 60 mg of vitamin C per day, which our bodies cannot store, so it needs to be supplied on a daily basis through diet. The reason that vitamin C needs to be constantly replenished is because it is a water soluble vitamin, versus a fat soluble vitamin.