Every single day in clinic a parent asks me, “Do I need to give my child a multivitamin?
The short answer: No. The long answer is, of course, more complicated and evolving.
There is no research that finds young children, even the “pickiest” eaters out there, need a daily supplemental multivitamin. But there’s one sneaky little exception: Vitamin D. Over the past 5-10 years there is mounting evidence demonstrating that the majority of children in the US have low vitamin D levels. Children lack both the dietary intake of vitamin D and the exposure to UVB light from the sun they need. My blog posts explaining Vitamin D supplements in infants and children go into more detail.
All infants and children need 400 IU of Vitamin D every day but not a whole multivitamin. You can usually get 400 IU from a multivitamin (read the label), but also just as easily from an isolated vita D supplement.
So, you really may be able to bid Fred Flintstone farewell…
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Vera says
Vitamin D keeps me up at night. Whenever I’ve been tested for it, I’m deficient. All the older women in my family have osteoporosis. My oldest daughter has a giant melanocytic nevus and hundreds of satellites (and her grandfather has melanoma) so needless to say we avoid exposing her to the sun as much as humanly possible. I try to push milk and do give her a multivitamin a day. But I still worry if she’s getting enough.
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD says
You’re doing everything right, Vera. Go have a big tall glass of milk yourself and rest easier. Don’t let this wake you anymore. If you provide your child with a multivitamin and your child gets 3 servings of dairy, you’re doing it all right. No need to go crazy with milk, though—3 servings of dairy is a plenty.