By: ATDOnline

While most parents try hard to make nutritious meals for their family, most children find the appeal of refined, fried, fast, and junk food simply overwhelming. And, sadly, increasingly easy to buy and consume, as well. From kindergarten through 12th grade, in both grade schools and high schools, vending machines offer calorie laden candy bars, sugar-filled soft drinks, and snack foods loaded with fat and salt.

Many school cafeterias actually sell fast food to children for lunch every day.¹ In fact, it seems almost everywhere children go and gather, visually enticing but nutritionally lacking snacks and soft drinks are sure to be available.

Determined to counteract this disturbing trend, parents everywhere are urgently seeking solutions to help their children get the nutrition they need. One answer is supplemental multivitamins. There are certainly plenty of multivitamins formulated for children currently on the market. However, these products vary considerably in quality and content. Some lack certain vital nutrients. Some taste terrible.

Still others are loaded with sugar and artificial flavorings. The good news is that there are superior multivitamins and exceptional immune boosting products formulated specifically for children that actually taste great. In this issue of Ask the Doctor, we will discuss childhood nutrition and how to help ensure your children's health with high quality, 100% natural flavored nutritional supplements.

[ Q ] Do children really benefit from vitamin supplements? Can't I make sure they get the vitamins and minerals they need from meals?

A. Even the most nutritionally vigilant parent cannot be 100% certain what nutrients are in the food they serve their children. That's because there's so much variability in the food we prepare.

For instance, fat-soluble vitamins can withstand normal cooking, but vitamins A and E are gradually destroyed by exposure to air.

Water-soluble vitamins such as B1, B6, folic acid, and pantothenic acid are destroyed by heat. Vitamin B2 is destroyed by light and heat, while light and air destroy vitamin C.

Certain food preservatives and preparation methods also destroy the vitamins in food. To further complicate matters, some fruit and vegetables are grown and harvested in such a way that does not promote nutrient content - so even raw foods may be lacking.

Then there are those crazy food phases all children seemingly go through. While these phases are generally harmless in the long run, a recent alarming exception was in the news.

A five-year old boy ate nothing but cheese pizza, Pop-Tarts, biscuits, and water, refusing fruits, vegetables, juices and vitamins. He slowly developed limp, swollen gums, and small purple spots appeared on his skin.

After five months of this extremely deficient diet, he was unable to walk or get out of bed because the pain was so severe. Doctors diagnosed the boy as having a severe vitamin C deficiency after ruling out other ailments such as leukemia.

	What Is Leukemia? Leukemia is a cancerous disorder of the blood-forming tissues (bone marrow, lymphatics, liver, spleen) characterized by excessive production of immature or mature leukocytes (white blood cells) and consequently a crowding-out of red blood cells and platelets. It was first named by Rudolf Virchow in 1887.Learn More.

Within a week of getting vitamin C supplements, the boy's pain and other symptoms were completely resolved.³ Obviously, this little boy's story is unusual. However, even mild food phases (such as "If It's Green It Must Be Yucky" or "The Only Good Crust Is A Cut- Off Crust") can result in awfully lop-sided nutrition.⁴

[ Q ] Can multivitamins help my child's performance in school?

A. Most teachers firmly believe that nutrition and learning go hand in hand. They are convinced that children who are well nourished possess the mental stamina that's needed to learn and retain even difficult concepts. But can multivitamins help children become better students?

Independent Trials:

Two independent research teams recently conducted randomized trials to find the answer. The researchers followed 245 schoolchildren aged 6 to 12 years for three months.

They gave half of the children multivitamin tablets every day, and half of the children placebos. When the children were tested, the children in the multivitamin group showed an increase in their nonverbal intelligence scores.

Nonverbal intelligence is closely associated with academic performance.⁵

[ Q ] I can't get my children to take 100% natural flavored multivitamins because they don't taste very appealing. Isn't there some way to make a 100% natural multivitamin taste good enough for my children to willingly take?

A. Yes, there is! Because most children need chewable multivitamins, manufacturers need to contend with the truly terrible taste of certain minerals. Magnesium, iodine, copper, and iron are probably the worst tasting.

Some solve this dilemma by skimping on the amounts of these minerals in their children's formulas. Others cover up the bad taste with either massive amounts of sugar or artificial flavors, or both.

However, a select few multivitamin makers have discovered how to offer a natural flavored, great tasting children's multivitamin that contains these vital minerals.

The best children's vitamins are prepared in a base of natural fruit that provides both antioxidants and other healthy phytonutrients. Children's multivitamins made in such a fruit base have very low sugar content, as well, providing as little as four calories a day. Fructose - fruit sugar - is the preferred sweetening agent, in addition to the fruit content.

[ Q ] What vitamins should be in a multivitamin for children?

A. There are several vitamins and minerals that children need to take each and every day. They include:

• Biotin
• Folate
• Niacin
• Pantothenic acid
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin B1
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin K

Let's review a few. We'll start with folate, one of the B vitamins.

Folate:

This vital vitamin helps the body use protein, helps make DNA, helps cells grow and divide, and keeps the nervous system healthy. In fact, folate is so important to children that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated that folate must be added to many foods most children eat daily. Since 1998, cereal, enriched bread, flour, corn meal, rice, and pasta have been folate-fortified with this B vitamin.⁶

One of folate's vital actions is the reduction of homocysteine levels in the blood. Homocysteine is an amino acid (the building block of protein) that is normally produced in the human body.

Research has shown that high levels of homocysteine can irritate blood vessels, make blood clot more easily than it should, and cause blockages in arteries increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.⁷

However, study after study has proven that taking folate reduces harmful homocysteine levels. While most of this research has been in adults, a recent study looked at children's homocysteine levels.

Researchers examined over 3500 children and discovered that high homocysteine levels increased the risk for heart disease in these children, especially as they grow. The researchers leading this study reinforced how critical folate is for all children.⁸

Vitamins C & E:

Other critical vitamins for children are the vitamins C and E. The rates of childhood asthma have increased significantly here in the US. There seem to be several reasons for this troubling trend, including environmental pollution and changes in the earth's atmosphere.

However, when vitamin C and vitamin E are given to children with asthma, they are able to breathe better and feel much better, too. It seems C and E, both antioxidants, keep asthmatic bronchial tubes from constricting which results in wheezing less and breathing better.^9-11

	What Is Asthma? A chronic disease of the respiratory system, characterized by sudden, recurring attacks of difficult breathing, wheezing, and coughing. During an attack, the bronchial tubes go into spasms, becoming narrower and less able to move air into the lungs. Various substances to which the sufferer has an allergy, such as animal hair, dust, pollen, or certain foods, can trigger an attack.

[ Q ] Which minerals do children need?

A. It is absolutely crucial that children get calcium, chromium, iron, magnesium, manganese, selenium, zinc, and phosphorus every day.

Sadly, however, the majority of our children are not getting the recommended amounts of many of these vital minerals. Children in America today drink more carbonated soft drinks than milk, and are in the midst of a calcium crisis.¹² Green leafy vegetables, another good calcium source, are also negligible in teen diets.

Calcium:

According to statistics from the National Institutes of Health, only 13.5 percent of girls and 36.3 percent of boys age 12 to 19 in the United States get the recommended daily amount (RDA) of calcium. Because almost 90 percent of adult bone mass is established by the end of this age range, children today are in danger of being part of an osteoporosis epidemic in the future as they enter late adulthood.¹²

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Lack of adequate calcium has immediate consequences for children, as well. The number of fractures among children and young adults has increased as a direct result of poor calcium intake.

Vitmain D:

Pediatricians are also seeing children with rickets, a bone disease caused by low levels of vitamin D.

Rickets became almost nonexistent after vitamin D was added to milk in the 1950s, but, due to lower milk consumption, is now appearing at greater rates around the country.¹²

	Rickets Rickets is a disorder of infancy and early childhood of multiple etiologies. Rickets, causing soft bones, may occur if enough vitamin D is not present to assist in calcium absorption. When enough calcium is not absorbed by the bone, it does not harden properly, and is too soft to support the weight of the growing body properly. The disease of rickets takes its name from the Greek word for spine, rhakhis.

Milk:

And milk itself can be problematic for some children.

Aside from alarming reports of hormones and herbicides in commercial dairy factory milk, even organic milk is not tolerated by all because of lactose intolerance and allergies.

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Zinc:
Zinc is another mineral that's vital for children. Because zinc is critical for normal growth and development, children need to take it every day.

A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, however, found more than half of US children ages two to 10 years fail to get the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for zinc.¹³

What's even more troubling is that zinc is vitally connected to children's ability to process information, pay attention, as well as remember and retain new information.¹⁴

Zinc does a lot to keep children healthy. More than 200 enzymes in our bodies rely on zinc. However, it's zinc's ability to connect with our immune systems to help fight infections that is crucial for children.

While researchers are not certain how zinc precisely boosts a child's immunity, they think that zinc might fight pneumonia and other infections by either enhancing the body's immune status, preventing the infection from establishing itself, or improving the immune system's ability to rid itself of the infecting organism. It's possible that zinc does all three.^15-17

[ Q ] No matter what I do, my children seem to come down with bad colds each year. Besides giving them a multivitamin, are there other nutritional supplements that can keep my children healthy?

A. Absolutely! In fact, there are 100% natural flavored children's immune formula nutritional supplements that contain their good buddy zinc, vitamins B6, C, and A (as beta carotene), plus elderberry extract. Elderberry extract has been used as a traditional medicine for hundreds of years to treat colds and flu.¹⁸

	Elderberries The common elder complex is variously treated as a single species Sambucus nigra found in the warmer parts of Europe and North America with several regional varieties or subspecies, or else as a group of several similar species. The flowers are in flat umbels, and the berries are black to glaucous blue; they are larger shrubs, reaching 5-8 m tall, occasionally small trees up to 15 m tall and with a stem diameter of up to 30-60 cm.

As it so often happens, scientific research has validated this use. In fact, scientists have discovered that elderberry keeps viruses from invading other cells and replicating. It also spurs important immune cells into action to fight invading germs.^19-21

While we previously discussed vitamin C's ability to help children with asthma breathe easier, it also provides powerful immune protection. It speeds up the healing of wounds, such as those knee and elbow scrapes so common in childhood.

However, vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and can't be stored in the body. It must be replenished every day. When children are under increased stress (like when they get sick with a cold or flu), their vitamin C levels are more rapidly depleted.²²

Vitamin B6 is also water-soluble and can only work in children's bodies for eight hours. Then more B6 must be obtained. Vitamin B6 strengthens the immune system by helping white blood cells make antibodies.²³

Vitamin A helps make lysozymes, important antiinfectious agents found in tears, saliva, and sweat. It also stimulates the thymus gland, an important immune organ, especially in children, to work better.^24,25

[ Q ] Should children take an immune formula every day or only when they are sick?

A. It can be taken several ways. Some parents may want to give the formula when school first starts or other times that their children are exposed to lots of germs. For a child who suffers from asthma or seasonal allergies or just seems to get sick frequently, parents could provide the immune formula every day, increasing the dose when needed.

And still others might feel it's best to give their children the immune formula only when they do catch a cold or have the flu. No matter how it is given, the 100% all natural flavored, immune boosting nutritional supplement can provide powerful protection against all those disease-causing germs your children are exposed to every day.

Conclusion

The nutritional choices we make for our children today will have a profound effect on their health tomorrow. Recent research has revealed that diabetes, heart disease, obesity, osteoporosis, and cancer in adults often result from nutritional deficiencies that occurred in childhood.^26-28

Thankfully, the reverse is just as true. This means that children who are well nourished with an optimal intake of minerals, vitamins, and helpful herbs can grow into healthy and happy adults.^29-32 Providing high quality multivitamins and immune boosting nutritional supplements for our children can be an important part of that process.

References

1. Brody J. Schools teach 3 C's: candy, cookies, and chips. The New York Times, Children's Health Online. Accessed on September 24, 2002. Available at: www.nytimes.com/pages/health/children/.
2. Grodner M, Anderson SL, DeYoung S. Vegetable victories. In: Foundations and Clinical Applications of Nutrition: A Nursing Approach. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2000: 190.
3. Tamura Y, Welch DC, Cooper WO, Stein SM, Hummell DS. Scurvy presenting as painful gait with bruising in a young boy. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000;154:732-735.
4. Sepp H, Lennernas M, Pettersson R, Abrahamsson L. Children's nutrient intake at preschool and at home. Acta Paediatr. 2001;90:483-91.
5. Schoenthaler SJ, Bier ID, Young K, Nichols D, Jansenns S. The effect of vitamin-mineral supplementation on the intelligence of American schoolchildren: a randomized, doubleblind placebo-controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2000;6:19-29.
6. Fleming T., ed. Folate. In: PDR for Nutritional Supplements. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company; 2001: 157-167.
7. American Heart Association. What is Homocysteine? Accessed on September 26, 2002. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org/
8. Osganian SK, Stampfer MJ, Spiegelman D, et al. Distribution of and factors associated with serum homocysteine levels in children: Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health. JAMA. 1999;281:1189-1196.
9. Romieu I, Sienra-Monge JJ, Ramirez-Aguilar M, et al. Antioxidant Supplementation and Lung Functions among Children with Asthma Exposed to High Levels of Air Pollutants. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2002;166:703-9.
10. Strauss RS. Environmental tobacco smoke and serum vitamin C levels in children. Pediatrics. 2001 Mar;107(3):540-2.
11. Seaton A, Devereux G. Diet, infection and wheezy illness: lessons from adults. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2000;11:37-40.
12. National Institutes of Health. News Release: Calcium Crisis Affects American Youth. Accessed on September 26, 2002. Available at: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/dec2001/nichd-10.htm.
13. Albertson AM, Tobelmann RC, Engstrom A, Asp EH. Nutrient intakes of 2 to 10-year-old American children: 10-year trends. J Am Diet Assoc. 1992;92:1492-6.
14. Bhatnagar S, Taneja S. Zinc and cognitive development. Br J Nutr. 2001;85:139-145.
15. Sazawal S, Black RE, Jalla S, Mazumdar S, Sinha A, Bhan MK. Zinc supplementation reduces the incidence of acute lower respiratory infections in infants and preschool children: double-blind, controlled trial. Pediatrics. 1998;102:1-5.
16. Prasad AS, Fitzgerald JT, Bao B, Beck FW, Chandrasekar PH. Duration of symptoms and plasma cytokine levels in patients with the common cold treated with zinc acetate. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2000;133:245-52.
17. Godfrey JC, Godfrey NJ, Novick SG. Zinc for treating the common cold: review of all clinical trials since 1984. Altern Ther Health Med. 1996;2:63-72.
18. Chicon PG. Herbs and the common cold. Adv Nurse Pract. 2000;8:31-2.
19. Zakay-Rones Z, Varsano N, Zlotnik M, et al. Inhibition of several strains of influenza virus in vitro and reduction of symptoms by an elderberry extract (Sambucus nigra L.) during an outbreak of influenza B Panama. J Altern Complement Med. 1995;1:361-9.
20. Espin JC, Soler-Rivas C, Wichers HJ, Garcia-Viguera C. Anthocyanin-based natural colorants: a new source of antiradical activity for foodstuff. J Agric Food Chem. 2000; 48:1588-92.
21. Barak V, Halperin T, Kalickman I. The effect of Sambucol, a black elderberry-based, natural product, on the production of human cytokines: I. Inflammatory cytokines. Eur Cytokine Netw. 2001;12:290-6.
22. Fleming T., ed. Vitamin C. In: PDR® for Nutritional Supplements. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company; 2001: 486-498.
23. Leklem JE. Vitamin B6. In: Shils ME, Olson JA, Shine M, Ross AC, Eds. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. 9th ed. Baltimore, Md: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 1999: 413-421
24. Ross AC. Vitamin A and retinols: functions. In: Shils ME, Olson JA, Shine M, Ross AC, Eds. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. 9th ed. Baltimore, Md: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 1999: 317-318.
25. Stephensen CB. Vitamin A, infection, and immune function. Annu Rev Nutr. 2001; 21:167-192.
26. Yajnik CS. The lifecycle effects of nutrition and body size on adult adiposity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Obes Rev. 2002;3:217-24.
27. Haire-Joshu D, Nanney MS. Prevention of overweight and obesity in children: influences on the food environment. Diabetes Educ. 2002;28:415-23.
28. Berenson GS, Srinivasan SR, Nicklas TA. Atherosclerosis: a nutritional disease of childhood. Am J Cardiol. 1998;82:22T-29T.
29. Ames BN. DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is likely to be a major cause of cancer. Mutat Res. 2001;475:7-20.
30. Tubiana M. Cancer prevention. Acta Oncol. 1999;38:689-94.
31. Kulak CA, Bilezikian JP. Osteoporosis: preventive strategies. Int J Fertil Womens Med. 1998 Mar-Apr;43(2):56-64.
32. Lamont DW, Parker L, Cohen MA, et al. Early life and later determinants of adult disease: a 50 year follow-up study of the Newcastle Thousand Families cohort. Public Health. 1998;112:85-93.

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