Do Healthy Kids Need Vitamins & Supplements?

March 20, 2023

Adequate nutrition intake is important for kids due to growth and development. On top of that, having a balanced nutrition helps in preventing health conditions such as malnutrition and overweight.

Are vitamins and supplements necessary for healthy children?

Kids are able to obtain adequate nutrients from their daily food intake. Therefore, vitamins and supplements are supposed to be given to children who have symptoms or diagnosed with vitamins deficiency. However, kids who are not taking balanced meal will tend to have inadequate nutrients. For examples, those kids are like picky eaters, having irregular meal intakes, having digestive health conditions or having food restrictions due to allergies.

Besides, kids who are on vegetarian or vegan diet tend to be lacking in iron, vitamin B12, zinc and calcium. Thus, vitamins and supplements are suitable to be given to kids in the categories mentioned. Children can take vitamins and supplements to boost their immune system and appetite. Besides, studies found that more than 50% of Malaysian children do not obtain adequate calcium and vitamin D as suggested in Recommended Nutrients Intake (RNI) Malaysia. Therefore, calcium and vitamin D supplements can be given to children who do not take dairy products and vegetables daily.

Vitamins & Supplements Deficiency and Overdose in Children

Nutrients	Benefits	Effect of Deficiency	Effect of Overdose
Vitamin A	For healthy eye, growth, development and immune system	Eye, skin, growth issues	Severe headache, blurred vision and dizziness
Vitamin B complex	Helps in energy production, promote cell health and appetite	Fatigue, nausea, anemia	Lost feeling in limbs, nervous system damage and live
Vitamin C	Antioxidant that protect cells, improve iron absorption	Scurvy, aneamia, bleeding gums	Diarrhea, nausea, gastric discomfort, increase rick of kidney stones
Calcium and Vitamin D	Essential for bone health and growth	Rickets, weak bones/ nails, muscle cramp, confusion	Kidney stones, bone pain, muscle weakness
Iron	For growth, development and essential in blood production	Anemia, fatigue, poor concentration	Bloody vomit/ stool, gastric discomfort
Zinc	Helps in immune system and metabolism	Growth retardation, loss of appetite, impaired immune system	Bloody diarrhea, gastric discomfort
Probiotics	For gut health, constipation, diarrhea and immune system	Not available	Bloating, infection in critically ill child (depends on individual)
Prebiotics	Work together with probiotics, suitable for kids who does not take adequate fruits and vegetable daily	Constipation, colic	Bloating, intestinal discomfort

Nutrients	Benefits	Effect of Deficiency	Effect of Overdose
Vitamin A	For healthy eye, growth, development and immune system	Eye, skin, growth issues	Severe headache, blurred vision and dizziness
Vitamin B complex	Helps in energy production, promote cell health and appetite	Fatigue, nausea, anemia	Lost feeling in limbs, nervous system damage and live
Vitamin C	Antioxidant that protect cells, improve iron absorption	Scurvy, aneamia, bleeding gums	Diarrhea, nausea, gastric discomfort, increase rick of kidney stones
Calcium and Vitamin D	Essential for bone health and growth	Rickets, weak bones/ nails, muscle cramp, confusion	Kidney stones, bone pain, muscle weakness
Iron	For growth, development and essential in blood production	Anemia, fatigue, poor concentration	Bloody vomit/ stool, gastric discomfort
Zinc	Helps in immune system and metabolism	Growth retardation, loss of appetite, impaired immune system	Bloody diarrhea, gastric discomfort
Probiotics	For gut health, constipation, diarrhea and immune system	Not available	Bloating, infection in critically ill child (depends on individual)
Prebiotics	Work together with probiotics, suitable for kids who does not take adequate fruits and vegetable daily	Constipation, colic	Bloating, intestinal discomfort

Vitamin A	Benefits For healthy eye, growth, development and immune system	Effect of Deficiency Eye, skin, growth issues	Effect of Overdose Severe headache, blurred vision and dizziness
Vitamin B complex	Benefits Helps in energy production, promote cell health and appetite	Effect of Deficiency Fatigue, nausea, anemia	Effect of Overdose Lost feeling in limbs, nervous system damage and live
Vitamin C	Benefits Antioxidant that protect cells, improve iron absorption	Effect of Deficiency Scurvy, aneamia, bleeding gums	Effect of Overdose Diarrhea, nausea, gastric discomfort, increase rick of kidney stones
Calcium and Vitamin D	Benefits Essential for bone health and growth	Effect of Deficiency Rickets, weak bones/ nails, muscle cramp, confusion	Effect of Overdose Kidney stones, bone pain, muscle weakness
Iron	Benefits For growth, development and essential in blood production	Effect of Deficiency Anemia, fatigue, poor concentration	Effect of Overdose Bloody vomit/ stool, gastric discomfort
Zinc	Benefits Helps in immune system and metabolism	Effect of Deficiency Growth retardation, loss of appetite, impaired immune system	Effect of Overdose Bloody diarrhea, gastric discomfort
Probiotics	Benefits For gut health, constipation, diarrhea and immune system	Effect of Deficiency Not available	Effect of Overdose Bloating, infection in critically ill child (depends on individual)
Prebiotics	Benefits Work together with probiotics, suitable for kids who does not take adequate fruits and vegetable daily	Effect of Deficiency Constipation, colic	Effect of Overdose Bloating, intestinal discomfort

How to ensure that your child is getting enough nutrition through their diet?

Take meal on time, avoid skipping meals
Take balanced meal and adequate protein portion using Malaysian Healthy Plate (quarter quarter half)
Take dairy products daily such as milk (2 glasses a day)
Increase intake of wholegrain products, choose wholegrain cereal, oat biscuit, etc
Add on healthy snacks by choosing fruits, vegetable chips, yoghurt, cereal, blended fruits sorbet, etc
Reduce on fast food, processed food, sugary beverages and high calorie snacks
Expose to sunlight (15-30 minutes, 2-3 times a week) or do more outdoor activities for bone health