Lifestyle

The ABCs of the Best Vitamins for Kids

vitamins for kidsvitamins for kids

As parents, you know it’s not easy to keep kids happy, but it’s even harder to keep them healthy. Breakfast can be a battle, lunches go uneaten, and dinners come with a heaping helping of drama as you beg or bribe your child to eat healthy and balanced meals. Knowing that children need a full alphabet of vitamins in order to grow up healthy and strong, you may be thinking that simply giving your child a vitamin supplement can save you the stress and struggle of feeding them well-rounded meals. While supplements can be an option to “fill in the gaps” in their diets, it’s smarter to focus on food first to feed your child’s nutrient needs. This may sound simple enough, but how do you know which vitamins they need and which foods are full of them? It’s time for a lesson on the best vitamins for kids from A to Z. 

The Basics on Why Vitamins are Essential for Kids 

Vitamins are essential nutrients that mainly come from the foods you eat. And they’re considered “essential” for two reasons. For one, your body isn’t able to produce them on its own, so you need to get them food. And just as importantly, vitamins are vital to your child’s health and development because they help support their immunity, digestion, metabolism, growth, energy, mood, and more.   

Study Up on What Vitamins Do Kids Need  

With an alphabet of vitamins to choose from, which ones make the grade? These six essential vitamins are at the head of the class: 

  1. Vitamin A – Essential for healthy growth and development, vitamin A helps keep your child’s eyes, skin, bones, teeth, and immune system working well. 

  2. Vitamin B – Good health runs in the family…the family of B vitamins, that is! It’s a big family of vitamins, including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12. They each have different responsibilities, but your family needs all of them for energy, metabolism, and a healthy nervous system. 

  3. Vitamin C – As one of the body’s most important antioxidants, vitamin C helps your child stay healthy by keeping their immune system strong.  

  4. Vitamin D – You’ll want your kids to bone up on vitamin D because it’s essential for strong bones. But that’s just the beginning because vitamin D also keeps their teeth healthy and muscles moving, while helping their immune system and protecting their good health.   

  5. Vitamin E – Illness and infection don’t stand a chance against the immunity-boosting power of vitamin E. This powerful antioxidant also protects cells against the damage of free radicals. 

  6. Vitamin K – Think of this as “vitamin kid” because it plays an important role in blood clotting (which is a must for those cuts, scrapes, and boo-boos!) and healthy bone development.  

Think Food First, Supplements Second 

Our lives are full of short cuts, quick fixes, and instant gratification. But keeping your child healthy and meeting their nutrient needs isn’t always as simple as taking a supplement. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children eating a balanced and varied diet can get all of their vitamins from food, so there “SHOULD” be no need for vitamin supplements—but we know how difficult that is with picky eaters or dealing with other dietary restrictions. That’s why you want to focus on feeding your child a variety of foods first, only turning to supplements to make up for the missing vitamins in their diets. To help kids develop healthy eating habits and get the nutrients they need from food, pile their plates and stuff their snacks full of: 

  • A rainbow of fruits and vegetables, which can be fresh, frozen, canned, or freeze-dried for convenience. 

  • Pump up the protein at every meal by serving seafood, lean meats, poultry, eggs, low-fat dairy, nuts and seeds, beans, and legumes. 

  • Whole grains like oats, brown rice, ancient grains, whole-wheat breads, and whole-grain pasta. 

  • Calcium-rich and vitamin D-packed dairy products, including milk, yogurt, cheese, tofu, and calcium-fortified foods. 

Foods Full of Vitamins, From the Most Vitamin D to the Best Vitamin C for Kids  

Ideally, your kids get their fill of vitamins by filling on up on foods that are full of them. But which foods deserve a place at the table? Check out this helpful list before you make your next grocery list: 

  • A powerful antioxidant, vitamin A is found in sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, and cantaloupe. 

  • There are many B vitamins, and just as many ways to get them from food! The top sources include salmon, beef, chicken and turkey, eggs, spinach, and brown rice.

  • Want to squeeze more vitamin C into your child’s diet? OJ is ok, but other foods are bursting with even more of this immune system-boosting vitamin, such as red bell peppers, strawberries, and broccoli.  

  • While vitamin D is only found in a few foods, a few of the best are fatty fish like salmon, beef liver, and eggs, along with fortified foods like milk, orange juice, and cereal.  

  • Lots of kid-friendly foods are full of vitamin E, including sunflower seeds, nuts and nut butters, avocados, kiwi, and spinach. 

  • With its vital role in blood clotting and bone building, kids need vitamin K, which can be found in leafy greens like kale and spinach, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kiwi, and canola oil. 

Learn When to Add Nutritional Supplements for Kids 

While there is certainly a time and a place for nutritional supplements, when is the time and is there a place in your child’s diet? Overall, you should always strive to meet your child’s nutritional needs with foods first, but this isn’t always easy if you have picky eaters, vegans, vegetarians, or kids with special dietary needs. If your kids can’t get enough nutrients from food, your pediatrician may recommend a daily dose of high-quality vitamin supplements for kids 

As you can see, feeding your kids a healthy diet is as easy as A, B, C…and D, E, and K! 

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