The essentials at a glance
- As a general rule, children should receive sufficient amounts of all vitamins.
- However, there are a few of these healthy nutrients for which regular intake is particularly important.
- If the supply of these vitamins is below average, deficiency symptoms can develop quickly.
- Children’s growth and health depend largely on an adequate vitamin intake.
There is hardly any certainty in the broad field of nutrition that is as undisputed as the fact that children need to consume plenty of vitamins. Yes, adults need these substances too, but children are growing, and their need for vitamins is therefore even higher. Whether the nervous system, metabolism, immune defence, vision, the formation of red blood cells, iron absorption, the maintenance of bones and teeth, or cell division: all these bodily functions require specific vitamins to operate smoothly.
Children need more than just fruit and vegetables
It is also no secret that most vitamins are found in plant-based foods, namely vegetables and fruit. However, there are also vitamins that are found either only in animal products, such as vitamin D (in fish), B3 (niacin, in meat and fish) and B12 (in eggs, milk, meat and fish), or equally in animal and plant-based foods, such as B1 (thiamine, in legumes, vegetables and fish), B2 (riboflavin, in legumes as well as meat, milk and fish) and B6 (pyridoxine, in avocados and bananas as well as milk, eggs and meat).
Vitamin D plays a special role. As described, it can be obtained through food from external sources only via fish. However, the body can produce a maximum of only 20 percent of the required amount of vitamin D from dietary sources. The remaining 80 percent is produced by human skin through a complex process involving the absorption of UVB rays—in other words, sunlight. Vitamin A is another special case. In its basic form, it is found only in fish, butter and milk, but its precursor, provitamin beta-carotene, is also found in carrots, kale, broccoli, spinach and apricots. The body then converts beta-carotene into vitamin A.
Which vitamins are children lacking in their everyday lives today?
The remaining vitamins—C, E and K—are found exclusively in fruit and vegetables or in plant oils. But what does this mean for children, and which vitamins are particularly important? The answer “all of them” would of course not be wrong, but in principle, children who eat a balanced diet obtain almost all the important vitamins in sufficient quantities without developing deficiency symptoms.
The situation is different for vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin D in particular is often lacking, quite simply because children do not spend as much time outdoors today as they used to. Television and video game consoles make this possible. However, children also often do not receive sufficient amounts of vitamins A and E; the same applies to folic acid. Folic acid is a vitamin found in lettuce and legumes, as well as spinach and various types of cabbage.
Spending plenty of time outdoors and having a healthy mix of vitamins are essential
For growing children to receive a balanced supply of vitamins, spending time in the fresh air is ideal—combined with a balanced diet in which fruit, vegetables and legumes, as well as whole-grain products, animal-based foods and nuts, all feature in sufficient quantities. Children who follow a vegetarian diet can of course omit meat, but should consume more eggs and dairy products instead. Vitamins for children, administered in a child-friendly form, can also provide support.
