By Chris D. Meletis, N.D.

If you’re wondering whether children need a multivitamin, the answer is yes. Here are seven reasons, according to science, that giving your little loved ones a children’s multivitamin is a really good idea.  

Not Eating Enough Fruits and Vegetables

According to a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an alarming 60% of children don’t eat enough fruit and 93% don’t eat enough vegetables.¹ Another report issued seven years later found that things didn’t get much better—in fact they got worse. Only 7.1% of high school students ate the recommended intake of fruits and only 2% ate the recommended amount of vegetables.² Given these dietary deficiencies, giving your kids a multivitamin is a smart move.

Eating Too Many Refined Foods

Children who aren’t eating enough fruits and vegetables are also likely gobbling down too many refined carbs. Deficiencies of key nutrients like chromium, a mineral the body uses to digest carbs, are common in people eating a lot of overly processed foods.³ Multivitamins can replenish levels of these nutrients that are lacking in a refined-carb diet.   

Being Obese

Kids who are obese are at risk of nutrient deficiencies. Children with both asthma and obesity have low magnesium levels, according to researchers.⁴ Other research has shown that children who are obese are more likely to be deficient in vitamin A, and the vitamin A deficiency made it more likely the children would have metabolic syndrome,⁵ a cluster of risk factors for heart disease.

Since kids who are obese are less likely to be exercising outside, they’re not exposed to as much sunlight and therefore obese children and adolescents often have vitamin D deficiency.⁶ Taking a kids multi can boost intake of deficient nutrients in obese children.

Not Getting Out in the Sun Enough

It’s not only inactive obese children who aren’t getting outside enough. Most kids these days spend a lot of time indoors at a computer or with other electronic devices. According to the Child Mind Institute, the average child in the United States spends about four to seven minutes per day outside. Compare that to seven hours in front of their electronic devices every day. The result? They’re not getting enough vitamin D from the sun. When kids do spend time outside, their skin is slathered with suntan lotion before they even set foot out the door, which blocks absorption of vitamin D.

Some Kids Are at Risk of Deficiency

Children on the spectrum are known to be choosy eaters, leaving them deficient in some nutrients. Vitamin D is also commonly deficient in these children.⁷ Kids who have poor attention and focus and behavioral problems may also have nutrient deficiencies. A review of seven published studies found that these children have lower serum magnesium levels compared to controls.⁸

Not Absorbing Enough Nutrients

Children who have digestive challenges may not absorb nutrients from the food they eat. These children may have leaky gut or a poor inflammatory response in the colon, which can interfere with nutrient absorption.⁹

Exposure to Heavy Metals

Children, like the rest of us, are exposed to heavy metals that can damage health. According to research, one multivitamin benefit in children is the ability to help the body excrete heavy metals. For example, a study of 45 adolescents found that taking a multivitamin for four weeks led to improved excretion of arsenic, especially during the first week.

The multivitamin also replenished levels of deficient nutrients like folic acid, vitamin B2, B6, B12, E, C, and selenium, and, as an added benefit, increased fat-free mass and decreased the percentage of body fat.  

The Best Liquid Children’s Multivitamin

In kids who have a hard time swallowing pills, using a liquid kid’s multi is especially convenient. Trace Minerals Research offers a Kid’s Multi, a delicious liquid children’s multivitamin containing an array of nutrients. This kid’s multivitamin contains a blend of body-balanced trace minerals known for their superior absorption so they’ll go right to work nourishing your little ones and your teenagers.

References:

1. Children eating more fruit, but fruit and vegetable intake still too low [press release]. CDC Press Release 2014.
2. Lange S. Percentage of Adolescents Meeting Federal Fruit and Vegetable Intake Recommendations — Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, United States, 2017. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2021;70(3):69-74.
3. Dubois F, Belleville F. [Chromium: physiologic role and implications in human pathology]. Pathol Biol (Paris). 1991;39(8):801-808.
4. Revyakina VA, Korotkova TN, Kuvshinova ED, Larkova IA, Alexandrova NM. [Magnesium and vitamin B(2) status of children with bronchial asthma and obesity]. Vopr Pitan. 2019;88(3):78-83.
5. Wei X, Peng R, Cao J, et al. Serum vitamin A status is associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome among school-age children in Chongqing, China. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2016;25(3):563-570.
6. Fiamenghi VI, Mello ED. Vitamin D deficiency in children and adolescents with obesity: a meta-analysis. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2021;97(3):273-279.
7. Siracusano M, Riccioni A, Abate R, Benvenuto A, Curatolo P, Mazzone L. Vitamin D Deficiency and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Curr Pharm Des. 2020;26(21):2460-2474.
8. Effatpanah M, Rezaei M, Effatpanah H, et al. Magnesium status and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A meta-analysis. Psychiatry Res. 2019;274:228-234.
9. Cucinotta U, Romano C, Dipasquale V. Diet and Nutrition in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Nutrients. 2021;13(2).