Which vitamins make your child fit?
Your child’s body needs vitamins but cannot produce them itself. Find out here which vitamins are contained in food and drinks and what they do.
How to take vitamins?
Vitamins are compounds your child needs for vital bodily functions. Because the human organism cannot produce these substances itself in most cases, your child has to absorb vitamins from food. With a healthy and balanced diet, this is usually not a problem. Dietary supplements are therefore not necessary. Rather, an overdose of artificially produced dietary supplements can lead to abdominal pain, diarrhea and even worse diseases! That’s why children should only take vitamins from natural products such as fruit, vegetables, dairy products, meat or juices.
We have put together for you here which foods contain which vitamins and how you can provide your child with sufficient vitamins. You can also read here about the consequences of not getting enough vitamins for you and your child.
By the way: All vitamins are sensitive to light and heat. Fruit almost always has a peel that protects the vitamins – but fruit juices are also usually packaged in such a way that the vitamins are protected. In general , the more gently food is prepared, the more vitamins are retained.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is converted in your child’s body from beta-carotene into the finished vitamin – which is why beta-carotene is also called “provitamin A”. You can find beta-carotene in deep yellow to orange-colored fruits and vegetables (oranges, carrots) – but also in dark green vegetables such as broccoli or spinach.
Children need a lot of vitamin A because their bodies have a high need for this vitamin but can only store a small amount of it. Is your child often very tired, has little appetite or even an impaired sense of smell and touch? Maybe vitamin A deficiency is the cause! But dryness of the skin, hair, nails and eyes as well as poor bone growth can also be the result of insufficient provitamin A intake. With a balanced diet, however, your child usually gets enough vitamin A.
Vitamin A…
- …is important for the function of skin and mucous membranes
- …supports the formation of new blood cells
- …is involved in the function of protein metabolism
- …supports eyesight
- …maintains the nerve cells in the nervous system, spinal cord and brain
- …plays an important role in the healthy development of the nervous system of embryos
vitamin B
If your child suffers from dry, cracked skin or even itchy eyes, vitamin B deficiency can be the cause. But headaches and loss of appetite as well as memory and concentration disorders are also signs that your child could be lacking in vitamin B.
The name vitamin B describes a whole group of vitamins that are numbered with numbers. By the way, one of the substances in this group – vitamin B1 – is the first substance to be called a vitamin! When it was discovered around 100 years ago, the Polish biochemist Casimir Funk discovered that a substance called “thiamine” was missing in patients affected by a serious illness. He came up with the word vitamin – composed of vita (“life”) and amine (from thi-amine).
Special features of vitamin B
The foods that contain them are as varied as the substances in the vitamin B group. Apart from cereals, which contain almost all B vitamins, vitamin B1 is mainly found in vegetables and potatoes, vitamin B2 in legumes, milk and cheese and vitamin B6 in bananas, vegetables, milk and eggs.
Vitamin B12 has a special feature: It is one of the few vitamins that are not found in plants. So if you are a vegetarian and want to feed your child a vegetarian diet, meat is no longer a source of vitamin B for you. Soy products also contain little vitamin B12. For this reason, it makes sense for you to consume plenty of drinks and foods that contain this vitamin – such as milk, cheese, or peas and beans. In this way you can cover your child’s daily vitamin B12 requirements.
Vitamin B…
- …is involved in almost all metabolic reactions in the body
- …is important for the functioning of your nervous system
- …supports cell division processes
- …supports blood formation
vitamin C
Vitamin C is one of the most well-known vitamins, mainly because it strengthens the immune system. If your child does not take in enough vitamin C, it may become ill more often. However, vitamin C deficiency can have even worse consequences: In small children, an insufficient supply of vitamin C to the body can also lead to bone growth disorders.
Fortunately, there are enough foods that contain vitamin C: it is mainly found in fruit and vegetables. Citrus fruits such as lemons or oranges in particular contain a lot of vitamin C immediately after harvesting, but natural protection for the immune system can also be found in potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and currants or kiwis.
With a balanced mixed diet, people take in the daily dose of vitamin C through food, so an additional dose of food supplements is not necessary. Too much vitamin C can even damage the kidneys in the long term, as they are responsible for excreting vitamin C from the body.
Vitamin C…
- …is a radical scavenger and has an antioxidant effect
- …is indispensable for the synthesis of certain proteins
- …is essential for your child’s immune system
- …the body needs for iron absorption via the small intestine
Vitamin D
Your child’s body also needs healthy bones for healthy growth – so that the body can form stable bones, it needs a lot of calcium on the one hand and vitamin D on the other. Without vitamin D, your child’s body can only produce calcium badly built into the bones – vitamin D deficiency means that your child has weaker bones and possibly even worse teeth!
A special feature of vitamin D is that the body can produce this substance itself. Your child’s body needs sunlight for this – the less your child is outside, the higher their need for vitamin D. A lot of exercise outdoors and a balanced diet, especially with milk products and eggs, will strengthen your child anyway – regardless of the vitamin coverage D-needs.
But be careful: Too much vitamin D can quickly lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or, in the worst case, damage to the kidneys and liver.
Vitamin E and K
Vitamin E (tocopherol)
The term vitamin E also stands for a group of substances that your child’s body needs. All substances in the vitamin E group are fat-soluble and are therefore mainly found in vegetable oils such as olive, wheat germ or sunflower oil . If a child has a vitamin E deficiency, anemia, muscle weakness and disorders of nerve function can occur.
Vitamin E…
- …is a radical scavenger and has an antioxidant effect
- …is necessary for maintaining muscle function
- …stabilizes the cell membranes
vitamin k
Vitamin K is perhaps the most unknown vitamin – but no less important for the healthy development of your child! Does your child bruise easily or does it often have nosebleeds? Maybe he’s missing vitamin K.
It is primarily newborns or children who have been treated with antibiotics for an illness, in which vitamin K deficiency can occur. Vegetables, especially cabbage and spinach, and fruits such as strawberries contain a lot of vitamin K and are therefore part of your child’s balanced diet.
Vitamin K…
- …is important for blood clotting