The curious case of multivitamins: To Give or not to Give?

Nutrition is the key to your child’s growth, but too much of it can be harmful too.Take the example of Vitamins. Vitamins and  essential  minerals form an important part of a child’s basic nutritional needs and have an important effect on many crucial bodily functions. The interesting thing to note here is that a human body needs vitamins in very minute quantities and a child can get that easily through a balanced nutritious diet without the need for any additional supplementation.

A balanced diet generally includes food groups like cereals, vegetables, lentils etc, which are already quite rich in such vitamins like A, B, C etc. So if your child is already under such a diet with regular meals then he or she may be getting more vitamins than what you think. There might be no real need for any of the ubiquitous multivitamin pills available in the market. In fact you should  rather avoid giving such supplements as over dosage could lead to toxicity and other complications.

Pediatricians may prescribe multivitamin and other forms of supplemental nutrition in situations where a child has erratic eating habits, poor appetite or if he/she or is under some sort of controlled diet.

If you are still concerned about your child’s nutrition  needs,  then talk to your pediatrician first before resorting to any supplement. Your doctor will evaluate your kid’s condition and may prescribe multivitamins if your kid is found suffering from

• Food allergies
• Chronic ailments 
• Malnutrition

Or is under some sort of special restricted diet, like  a vegetarian diet.

So break yourself from the jinx of the pills and lead a healthy and positive life with good nutritious food.  For food is the best source of nutrition out there. As Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine once said:

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