Vitamins are essential active ingredients involved in all metabolic processes in the body, and are important factors in helping children develop physically and mentally. However, do parents know when to supplement vitamins for their children? Let’s find out through the following useful information.

1. When to supplement vitamins for children

It is necessary to choose the appropriate vitamin supplementation method based on the child’s current health status. If the child’s body develops normally, the child only needs to eat enough and increase vegetables and fruits in each meal. However, in some special cases, parents need to pay attention to supplementing vitamins for children and specifically as follows:

When the child is sick

During the care process, to help the child recover quickly, supplementing through eating and drinking alone is not necessarily enough, even the symptoms caused by the disease such as abdominal pain, reflux, vomiting, … make it difficult for parents to feed the child. Therefore, vitamin supplementation is an important factor in strengthening the immune system, helping the child’s body to be strong enough to fight against harmful agents.

To determine the correct type of vitamin and the necessary dosage, the child needs to be taken to a medical facility for examination and consultation with a doctor. If you cannot see a doctor and consult a doctor, you can give your child over-the-counter supplements after reading the instructions carefully.

If parents know when to supplement vitamins for their children and apply them correctly, it will help strengthen the immune system.

Malnourished children

Malnourished children have poor physical condition and weak immune system, making them at high risk of disease. Therefore, children need to increase their intake of essential nutrients in general, and vitamins in particular. For children who have not been completely weaned, mothers can combine nutritious weaning meals, focusing on adding green vegetables and fruits. Do not feed your child too much starch, which can cause indigestion.

In addition, parents also need to continuously monitor their child’s weight and height every month to see if the supplement regimen has really worked. At the same time, children should be regularly checked for health problems to detect abnormalities, promptly adjust and apply the most appropriate treatment for the child.

Other cases

In addition to the above cases, when is it necessary to supplement vitamins for children? The following conditions will be something that parents need to pay special attention to:

• Children have a long-term anorexia.
• Children are not breastfed.
• Have a history or are having abnormal problems in the digestive system such as: malabsorption, ulcers, worms, etc.
• Children are preparing for or after vaccination.
• Children after illness, trauma, surgery, etc. Each individual case requires special care. You need to ask your doctor carefully to apply the appropriate method for your child.

Children only need vitamin supplements when their health condition is abnormal.

2. Things to note when supplementing vitamins for children

In addition to knowing when to supplement vitamins for children, parents also need to note a few of the following points to help the care process bring good results:

Maintain a nutritious diet

A child’s diet needs to have all 4 essential groups of nutrients including protein, fat, starch, vitamins and minerals. Because the body cannot synthesize vitamins (except vitamin D synthesized from sunlight), children always need to be supplemented with green vegetables and fruits in every daily meal. This source ensures safety and best supports the child’s development process.

The use of vitamin supplements cannot replace the provision of nutrients from the daily diet. Therefore, in parallel with giving children vitamins, parents need to maintain a balanced diet with all the nutrients to help children develop in the best condition.

Read the instructions carefully

Vitamin supplements and solutions always come with instructions for use, the dosage for adults and for children is completely different. Parents need to pay attention and only give their children the necessary amount, do not overdose or apply the adult dosage for children to avoid poisoning.

Before giving supplements to children, parents need to pay attention to the contraindications and consider whether the child’s condition is suitable for use or not. Some common contraindications are as follows:

• Patients who are sensitive to any ingredient of the drug
• Vitamin A: Children who are taking Paraffin oil should not take vitamin A supplements.
• Vitamin D: do not use for children with progressive pulmonary tuberculosis, hypercalcemia
• Vitamin B1: contraindicated for intravenous vitamin B1.
• Vitamin B6: do not use in combination with Levodopa.
• Vitamin B12: do not use for patients with anemia or cancer.

Regular health check-ups

The immune system of young children is still immature in the first years of life. If nutritional supplementation is not guaranteed, the functions in the body will not be maintained effectively, greatly affecting the child’s future development. Therefore, children need to have health check-ups at least once every 6 months, helping to promptly detect potential abnormalities and have appropriate treatment.