Q&A with Eva, our clinical nutritionist
1. How can a multivitamin help young children? Do they not already get the necessary vitamins & minerals from their meals?
A good diet with a wide variety of foods should indeed provide us with all nutrients necessary. But currently a lot of our foods contain less and less nutrients and more chemicals. Modern fast agriculture and cooking techniques might even interfere with absorption of nutrients, so everyone could do with extra nutrients, especially in demanding times. On the other hand, we all have different digestive abilities, not to mention taste preferences. Because children are growing so fast, they have a higher need for some nutrients, so children who are fussy eaters have a greater risk of becoming deficient.
2. What tips can you give parents of fussy eaters?
It is not an easy task to get a child who is a fussy eater to consume the variety and amount of food necessary for their wellbeing, but we should never give up.
Try to involve children in preparing and even growing foods – you don’t need a large garden, few pots is fine or sprouting is easy and exciting. Children tend to be more interested and adventurous in trying foods if they can be proud of growing and preparing them.
You can also try to disguise unwanted foods – soups and smoothies and stews are great to hide all sorts of things even if just small amounts are introduced this way, it’s better than none at all. You could introduce vegetables in exciting forms, such as kale crisps – easy to make and kids tend to love it! If meat is the problem, try cutting chicken breast into exciting shapes and make meat balls. In any case make sure the child gets good protein from eggs, fish cakes and worst case scenario you can try a good quality protein powder in fruit smoothie.
Until the diet is optimal, it is very important to introduce a good multivitamin that has a wide range of nutrients in a well absorbable form, such as Vivio Junior tonic. It comes in handy for two reasons; it replaces missing nutrients and it also helps to support the appetite, thanks to the well absorbable forms of zinc and B vitamins that are necessary to make our digestive enzymes and support our taste buds.
Until the diet is optimal, it is very important to introduce a good multivitamin that has a wide range of nutrients in a well absorbable form, such as Vivio Junior tonic. It comes in handy for two reasons; it replaces missing nutrients and it also helps to support the appetite, thanks to the well absorbable forms of zinc and B vitamins that are necessary to make our digestive enzymes and support our taste buds.
3. What key vitamin are many children lacking in their diet?
Nutrient deficiencies are unique to each child, depending on their diet, their individual needs and digestive abilities, but one nutrient that every child and indeed adults need is Vitamin D. It is the sunshine vitamin which we don’t get enough of in Ireland, not even in the summer in most years. It is very low in foods such as butter from grass-fed cows, fish and animal skins and organ meats which we don’t eat anymore.
Vitamin D is also called by scientists as the iceberg nutrient, because from what we know about its benefits and uses – such as bone health is just the tip of the iceberg – in fact it is necessary for all our cells for proper DNA function and our immune system is regulated by it. Vivio Junior contains a good dose of Vitamin D3 along with a good variety of nutrients to help its function.
4. Are multivitamins only useful in cold & flu season or can they be taken year round?
Multivitamins are beneficial all year round, especially for children who are fussy eaters and often rely on processed foods. Vivio Junior is perfect for children from 12 months onwards, just 10ml a day cover a wide range of well absorbable nutrients and contribute to wellbeing.
5. What causes children to become fussy eaters?
There are quite a few reasons behind why a child becomes a fussy eater. It might be just a learned behaviour, especially if a family member is picky eater. Or it can start when the child goes to school and sees other children refusing different vegetables. But if it is accompanied by poor appetite, it can be due to nutrient deficiencies and digestive difficulties. Zinc and B vitamins are absolutely necessary for digestive enzyme production. These nutrients are destroyed by food processing and fast growing children become easily depleted in them.
Zinc is also needed for the nerves in our taste buds, which may interfere with our food choices. It is also important to investigate if the child suffers from food allergies or an intolerance, as is often the case in fussy eaters. In which case an elimination diet and normalising the gut flora is necessary. I’ve seen it many times in my practice that after the digestive system is repaired and we replaced missing nutrients with a supplement like Vivio Junior, children became more and more interested in different foods they wouldn’t have touched before.
