Yes or No to Vitamin Supplements

Do you take vitamins each morning? Many kids take vitamins even though they do not need to. A study done by researchers at UC Davis has found that most of the healthy children, who take daily vitamins, probably do not need them. The study also found that many children who do need to take vitamins are not. Many children and young adults who take daily vitamin supplements are already receiving enough nutrition from the foods that they eat. If you are eating a balanced diet, it’s a good idea to re-evaluate your decision to take a vitamin.

Researchers at UC Davis spent 5 years working on the study about vitamins. In the study, 10,828 children between the ages of 2 and 17 took part in the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Survey. If the child had taken a supplement within the past month, they were considered to be vitamin and mineral supplement users. The researches also focused on the exercise each child was doing, the types of food they were consuming, and whether or not they were covered by health insurance. The study showed that out of the children who were excellent health, 37 percent took vitamins. Only about 28 percent of children in fair or poor health took vitamins. 30 to 40 percent of children who regularly ate vegetable and drank milk were taking supplements even though it was unnecessary. Children should not take vitamins unless it is necessary.

Vitamin use for children who are over the age of 1 is not recommended by The American Academy of Pediatrics. Studies that have been done in the past show that about one-third of children in the United States take a vitamin daily. In many of these cases, it is unnecessary for the children to be taking daily vitamin supplements. Many vitamins can be consumed by eating a healthy diet. For example, vitamin A can be found in fortified milk, cheese, butter, and dark green leafy vegetable. Vitamins C can be found in fruits and vegetables and B6 is in bananas, spinach, and salmon. Taking vitamins is unnecessary if you are consuming a healthy and balanced diet.