Take Care with Vitamin Supplements
Are Supplements Necessary for Children?
Vitamins are often administered in the same dosage for children as they are for adults.
America has forged a partnership with preventive health care. Vitamin supplements are huge players, commanding over 8 billion dollars annually. Are they necessary for children?
Consider this: the USRDA (United States Recommended Daily Allowances revised in name, not dosages, in 1998 to United States Recommended Daily Intake) was developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in food labeling. The USRDI for each nutrient is a single number that does not vary with age and gender, except for children under four years of age and for pregnant or lactating women. According to the Food and Drug Administration, a seven year old has the same RDA for essential nutrients as an adult. .
The History of Supplements
In the 70s, Americans were wild for the advice of Adele Davis (Let’s Have Healthy Children) who, in turn, was wild for vitamin supplements. In addition to tablets,she advocated cod liver oil, prune juice, beef liver, and cereal laced with Brewer’s yeast. Then Adele Davis died of bone cancer. Were vitamin supplements dangerous? According to the Diet Analysis Web Page at http://dawp.anet.com it is very easy, especially for children, to exceed their USRDI for every single nutrient, just in the food they eat. That's not counting vitamin supplements.
The label of Yummy Bears vitamin supplements says they taste like candy. So, inherently, these vitamins possess the potential for toxic overdoses to children. In that event, the instructions recommend calling poison control. Yet even ingesting four “bears” (one serving), carries questionable benefits for children. Many parents are unaware of the dangers of vitamins A and D, which are stored in the body’s fat and the liver. According to a1995 study released by the University of Boston, consuming extreme amounts of vitamins A and D could result in cirrhosis of the liver, headaches, vomiting, fatigue, abnormal bone development, and hair loss, dry and itchy skin.
According to the Yummy Bears web site, getting the proper nutrition is an important part of growing up healthy and happy. At Yummy Bears, they help parents make sure their children are getting the important vitamins and minerals while giving kids a tasty and fun way to take them! Yummy Bears contains 2500 International Units of Vitamin A and 200 IU’s of Vitamin D, which comprises a seven year old's entire USRDI; not counting the 154% RDA she can obtain from natural sources by following a balanced diet.
The Contents of Supplements
In addition to vitamins and minerals, all supplements contain fillers and preservatives. These are listed in descending order with the ingredient comprising the largest amount of experiential substance listed first. Flintstone’s Original (Great Gazoo Shape) chewable vitamins lists sucrose (sugar) as its first ingredient. One A Day Scooby Doo vitamins uses an artificial sweetener Aspartame. Many children’s vitamins lists artificial colors (Red #40, Yellow #6, Blue # 2) and artificial flavors. Yummy Bears, advertised as lightly polished with vegetable oil, actually contained carnauba wax otherwise known as car wax.
Doctors Weigh In
Doctors recommend these vitamin supplements and many vitamin labels display the logo Pediatricians #1 choice? Doctors are trained in healing, but not in nutrition. As late as 1990, only 34 of all accredited medical schools required a course devoted exclusively to nutrition.
The issue of whether to use vitamin supplements is one that parents have to decide for themselves and for their children. It’s not a decision to be made by a doctor, an advertising agency, or a pharmacist. The American Medical Association has conducted studies as late as 1998, confirming that there are times when supplements make sense.
Pregnant and lactating women would be hard put to consume enough vitamins to meet their increased nutritional needs. Calcium is an important supplement for all middle-aged people hoping to prevent osteoporosis. Niacin has proven benefits with schizophrenic patients. Tests indicate that the herb, bilberry, is a proven vision enhancement for people suffering from night blindness; there is even some evidence that it prevents outbreaks of herpes.
Eat Right to Stay Fit
It is an alluring and dangerous precedent to succumb to advertising that hints that if a child is healthy now, how much more healthy she would be if she took vitamin supplements. If it's not a medical necessity, leave well enough alone.
