Nutritional supplements for children

The vast majority of healthy children who eat a balanced diet and whose growth and development meet the standards for their age do not need to take additional nutritional supplements at all.； Targeted supplementation of specific nutritional preparations is only required if a nutrient deficiency, special dietary restriction or disease requirement is confirmed through evaluation by a professional clinical nutritionist or pediatrician.

Last week I met a mother in the clinic who brought me a bag full of nutritional supplements: DHA algae oil, calcium, iron and zinc oral solution, multivitamin gummies, lutein eye protection tablets, and even nervonic acid pills that are said to "promote brain development". I calculated that I had to eat six or seven kinds a day, which cost almost 3,000 yuan. As a result, her 5-year-old child's appetite has become worse and worse in the past six months. This blood test found that vitamin A has exceeded the upper limit of the appropriate intake. If he continues to take supplements, he will develop symptoms of chronic poisoning.

The controversy over children's nutritional supplements is actually very big now, and there are many supporters of both sides. One group is the anxious party that "it's better to have more than nothing". Many maternal and child bloggers and product anchors are passing on this logic: Nowadays, children focus on academic work, use their eyes a lot, and have few outdoor activities. Supplementing some DHA can improve their grades, some lutein can prevent myopia, and some calcium can help them grow taller. Anyway, they are all nutrients, and there is no harm in eating them. This statement is not completely unreasonable. I have met many children with special dietary restrictions before. For example, children with severe milk protein allergy cannot touch a mouthful of milk. The calcium intake in the daily diet will most likely not meet the needs. They do need to supplement calcium and vitamin D. ； There are also premature infants who are exclusively breastfed and must supplement iron and DHA as directed by their doctor from birth. These are all necessary.

The other group is the conservatives who adhere to "you don't need to supplement when you eat enough". Most of them are veteran experts who have been in clinical practice for more than ten years. They use the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)" as a yardstick: Healthy children aged 2 to 12 years old, as long as they can eat enough of the four major food categories of cereals and potatoes, vegetables and fruits, livestock, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, and soy nuts every day, their growth and development curves are within the normal range, and there is no need to take additional supplements at all. This is true. I have been doing child nutrition consulting for almost 8 years, and I have met more than 90% of parents who said "My baby is nutritionally deficient". After a 72-hour meal review, I found that it was not the baby who was deficient, but the diet structure given by the parents was too biased: either polished rice and white noodles without whole grains, or meat and no vegetables every day, or more snacks than meals. A while ago, a mother said that her baby didn’t like vegetables and needed to take a multivitamin supplement. I gave her an idea. She chopped the vegetables, mixed them with shrimps and eggs, spread them into small cakes, and pressed them into the shapes of stars and bears with cartoon molds. After only half a month, she came to me and said that her baby now takes the initiative to eat "bear cakes" every day. Later, the trace elements were found to be deficient, which is much more useful than eating gummy vitamins worth hundreds of yuan a bottle.

To be honest, I would never tell parents "absolutely not to buy supplements for their children". Instead, I feel that when there is a real need, they should take supplements. For example, in the winter in the north, when the temperature is more than 20 degrees below zero, children cannot even go downstairs and cannot get sunlight for a month or two. Even if they eat normally, it is perfectly fine to take 400IU of vitamin D every day. ； Some children are diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia, and eating red meat and pork liver alone is too slow to replenish the iron, so they must follow the doctor's advice to take iron supplements to avoid affecting their growth and development.

But what I am particularly opposed to is "blind supplementation". Don't go to a live broadcast room and say that eating it will make you taller or get 100 points in the exam and place an order in a hurry. If you look through those popular nutritional gummies for children, the first ingredient list is basically white sugar. The content of DHA and vitamins is pitifully small. The nutrition of one gummy candy is not as much as that of a bite of salmon or a piece of spinach. On the contrary, it is easy for children to get used to the sweet taste, and they will not like to eat tasteless meals, which may cause tooth decay. If you really suspect that your child is deficient in nutrients, first spend dozens of dollars to get a call from a clinical nutrition department to do a comprehensive dietary assessment. If necessary, draw blood to check the serum nutrient levels. If you are deficient, make up for it. If it is not deficient, don’t waste money. The money saved can buy two more boxes of fresh blueberries and two pounds of high-quality steak for the baby, and take the baby to run outdoors for two more laps. It is better than any supplement.

Raising a baby doesn’t have to be so stressful. Don’t be led away by marketing that sells anxiety. Eating well is always the best nutritional supplement. If you really need supplements, you should consult a professional before taking action. It’s always right.