If your child treats vegetables like a personal attack, refuses anything “too crunchy”, “too green”, or “too mixed together”, and somehow survives almost entirely on beige food… welcome to the club. Picky eating is incredibly common in children. Studies suggest around 10 -15% of little ones are considered persistent picky eaters. And just 19% of UK kids aged 5 -15 eat the recommended five portions of fruit and veg each day. This can be really stressful as a parent, especially when you start wondering whether they’re actually getting the nutrients they need to grow, sleep well, and fend off all those bugs going round at school. It's no wonder so many parents are googling: "Vitamins for kids"!
And the worry isn’t unfounded. Even children with relatively balanced diets can still fall short on certain nutrients. Vitamin D deficiency is particularly common in the UK thanks to our lack of sunlight, with almost 20% of children estimated to have low vitamin D levels. Iron deficiency is also surprisingly common, with a whopping 28% of kids thought to not be getting enough.
That’s where supplements can help fill the gaps and give parents a bit of peace of mind. The problem? Lots of children absolutely hate taking them! Whether it’s gagging on tablets, or being sensitive to tastes and textures, getting supplements into kids isn’t always straightforward. Particularly for children with sensory sensitivities, autism, ADHD or food aversions.
The good news? There are alternative ways to top up and your child doesn’t need to take EVERYTHING, just the essentials we're sharing in this blog.
Vitamins for kids – can't they get everything they need from diet alone?
A child consistently eating healthy, balanced meals, will most likely get the nutrients they need. But in reality, very few children eat perfectly all the time. If a friend is coming over that evening, they'll probably want a 'treat' dinner. Accidentally give them something that they don't like (that three bean curry you've lovingly slaved over), and most parents know how quickly they can retreat into a “safe foods" (ie beige food with limited nutrients) only phase.
If you want the official line on vitamins for kids, the NHS recommends vitamins A, C and D for children aged six months to five years, and vitamin D is considered especially important in the UK during autumn and winter when sunlight levels are low.
There are also lots of other situations where supplements can be helpful, including:
- Picky or restrictive eating where they aren't eating a balanced range of foods
- Sensory sensitivities around food. Taste, smell and texture might prevent them from eating nutritious meals
- Vegetarian or vegan diets can make it hard to get enough of nutrients like B12, iron, calcium, vitamin D and omega-3 as these are mainly found abundantly in animal products.
- Food allergies or intolerances, where they also can't eat a wide range of foods – the best way of ensuring you're getting all the nutrients you need to feel your best.
The vitamins for kids that matter most:
1. Vitamin D
If there’s one nutrient UK children might need support with, it’s vitamin D. As we don’t get enough strong sunlight for much of the year, low vitamin D levels are extremely common – especially between October and March. Even in summer months, many of us (quite understandably) are slathering on the Factor-50 to protect kids delicate skin, but this can make it difficut for the body to produce vitamin D from sunlight exposure, because not enough is reaching the skin.
Vitamin D helps support the development of healthy bones and teeth, a must while they're doing all that growing. It also helps with immune health, a priority when building up immunity to the endless snotty season lurgies, muscle strength – for all that running around, and much more. So it's well worth adding the Kids Vitamin D3 patch to your vitamins for kids supplement list. Low levels can sometimes contribute to tiredness, low mood and frequent illnesses, all things every parent wants to avoid as much as possible.
2. Vitamins A and C
Alongside vitamin D, the NHS also recommends A and C as must-have vitamins for kids aged 6 months to 5 years old. Vitamin A is essential for healthy vision (especially in dim light), skin health and immune function, while vitamin C helps support the immune system, protects healthy cells and helps the body absorb iron properly. A must when you consider how many children are deficient.
Both these vitamins are fairly abundant in fruit and veg, but if you’ve got a ‘veggiephobe’ on your hands it’s unlikely they’ll be getting enough from diet alone. Plus soil erosion and (discover more about this in our blog Why Fruit & Veg is Less Nutritious than it used to be here) pesticide use means the amount of nutrients present in fruit and veg has taken a deep dive in the last 50 years. So even the most diverse diet might not be enough to keep them topped up.
A simple multivitamin can help with this, not to replace food, but to help fill nutritional gaps. Our Kids Multivitamin Patch is an easy way to top up multiple nutrients at once, helping cover all the main bases with one fuss-free patch. It’s ideal for children who won’t take tablets too!
3. Iron – add this mineral to your vitamins for kids list
Iron is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in children worldwide, and studies suggest around 28% of children may have lower iron levels than they should. Iron is especially important during childhood because it supports those epic growth spurts, developing brains and all the energy kids need to run about and drive you mad all day!
Symptoms that might mean they aren’t getting enough iron include:
- Fatigue
- Pale skin
- Poor concentration
- Irritability
- Reduced appetite
Low iron can be more common if your child is following a vegetarian diet, or in girls once they start their periods. You can top up iron by eating organ meats, but this isn’t top of most kids favourite meal lists. So, try our handy Iron patch instead, a far simpler way to target one of the most important vitamins for kids! Even better, patches avoid the gut, so there’s also none of the digestive side effects that can put children (and adults!) off taking oral iron supplements.
4. Omega-3
Omega-3 fats like DHA and EPA are important for brain development, cognitive function, vision and even behaviour. The problem? Most children aren’t exactly begging for sardines and salmon, unless it’s in fish finger form! In fact, many UK children eat far less oily fish than recommended, making low omega-3 intake fairly common.
Choosing a supplement to boost your child’s omega-3s is a super simple vitamins for kids hack. Our Omega-3 patch is perfect, even if they’re fussy, because it doesn’t have the strong fishy taste, or come in huge, hard-to-swallow capsules like many oral supplements. All the brain boosting benefits with no tantrums about ‘yucky’ taste or texture.
5. Vitamin B12 & Zinc
Vitamin B12 and zinc are another absolute essential for growing kids, supporting brain development, immunity, energy production and healthy growth. Yet many children, especially those eating plant-based diets, may not get enough.
Vitamin B12 is found naturally almost exclusively in animal foods, so vegetarian and vegan children are at a much higher risk of low intake without fortified foods or supplements. Zinc can also be found in plant foods, but it’s often less easily absorbed than zinc from animal sources.
A supplement can help fill any potential gaps, giving you the peace of mind they’re getting enough of this vital vitamin and mineral without having to force them to eat mountains of tofu (a vegan friendly B12 source) . The kids Multivitamin patch contains both these must-haves, plus the other nutrients mentioned in this blog. An easy-peasy shortcut for ticking all the essential vitamins for kids off your list.
