With the start of school, you know I'm going to be talking about nutrition again and how important it is for your kids to receive a good breakfast before they head off each morning to school. (See all of my great posts on nutrition, how it affects academic performance, and healthy but yummy recipes and snacks here.)
But I haven't talked about vitamins. However, a recent study conducted by Consumer Reports en Español and LATISM shows that Latinos are actually pretty big on using multivitamins as adults - but not so much when it comes to their kids.
Dr Jose Luis Mosquera, Medical Advisor for Consumer Reports, says that children should start taking vitamins "after they start chewing food properly – age 3 on, but most doctors allow after age 2."
He says that many kids don’t like dairy products or have allergies. Other sources of vitamins are good like orange juice, lentils, cold water fish like salmon and sardines, and soy milk. But there is little scientific evidence they do work, Dr. Mosquera says.
So a multivitamin doesn't hurt your child if given as directed and can prevent vitamin deficiencies caused by sedentary lifestyles, poor diets, and other factors. Consider a multivitamin for your child, especially if he or she spends a lot of time indoors, doesn't drink milk/dairy products, doesn't eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, **drinks sodas, or suffers from being overweight.
Do you give your children a multivitamin on a regular basis?
