Vitamins are important for the health of any person, but their need for a growing child's body is beyond doubt. Without adequate daily intake of all vitamins, growth processes can be disrupted, which threatens health problems. Particular attention should be paid to vitamins during adolescence, when both physical and mental development is actively taking place in the child's body.
What age is considered adolescent?
In most countries, adolescents are called children aged 12 to 17 years, while this age period is divided into the younger (children from 12 to 14 years old) and the older (children from 15 to 17 years old). UN terminology refers to adolescents as children between the ages of 10 and 19.
What vitamins does a teenager need?
- For normal physical development and puberty processes, the child should receive retinol (vitamin A), which is also responsible for the visual state of children 12-17 years old.
- To support the metabolic processes that take place in the body of a child over 12 years old, B vitamins are especially important.
- Adequate vitamin D intake is very important for dental and skeletal health. This vitamin is especially needed by schoolchildren 13-16 years old.
- Full growth of a 13-15 year old child is impossible without vitamin E. This vitamin also helps adolescents to resist infections.
- The most important vitamin for strengthening the immunity of children under the age of 14 and over 15 is ascorbic acid. It is also essential for connective tissue, iron absorption, and vascular health.
- Adequate intake of vitamins H and A will help with skin problems that often appear in adolescents.
- Vitamins K and PP are important for normal blood circulation.
To make it easier for parents to navigate in assessing the amount of vitamins that a teenager receives from food or from a multivitamin supplement, you need to know the daily requirement for vitamins in adolescence:
Indications
Vitamin complex supplements are prescribed in adolescence with:
- Insufficient and irrational nutrition of a teenager.
- Growth retardation.
- The recovery period after a long or acute illness.
- Long-term treatment with any medication (especially antibiotics).
- Seasonal vitamin deficiency in food.
- Living in unfavorable environmental conditions.
- Significant mental stress.
- Decreased appetite.
- Sports activities.
The opinion about the need for vitamin complexes for a child among doctors is very different. A doctor from the Union of Pediatricians of Russia - Makarova S.G. considers their input necessary for every child. For more details, see the video.
Contraindications
Vitamin supplements should not be prescribed to adolescents in case of hypersensitivity to their ingredients, as well as hypervitaminosis D or A. For any serious health problems of a teenage child, you should consult a pediatrician about buying vitamins.
Should I use to strengthen the immune system?
In adolescence, the immune system functions under high stress, so it should be supported with vitamins that affect the resistance of the child's body to viruses and bacteria. These vitamins primarily include ascorbic acid, as well as vitamins E, A and D. It is important to ensure that these vitamins are sufficient in the diet of adolescents.
You can also support the immune system with the help of special vitamin complexes, for example, the supplement Immuno Kids from Multi-tabs or VitaMishka Immuno +.
Release forms
Children's vitamins are available in various forms - from sweet syrups and gummy lozenges to capsules, coated tablets and injections. At the same time, for a preventive purpose, chewable vitamins are most often bought for adolescents.
What vitamins are better for giving: a review of popular
The most popular multivitamin complexes under the age of 14 are:
For adolescents over 14 years old, the following vitamin complexes are most often bought:
Also, children 15 years and older can continue to give Kinder biovital, Jungle, Pikovit Forte, VitaMishki and Multi-tabs Teenager.
Nutritional adjustments as an alternative
The diet of a teenager, unfortunately for many parents, often includes a large number of unhealthy foods, for example, fast food. And in order to avoid hypovitaminosis and the need to take vitamin complex supplements, parents should have more control over the menu of their son or daughter.
For normal development and full supply of vitamins, a teenager should consume daily:
- Fish, liver, poultry or meat.
- Butter.
- Various fruits and berries.
- Eggs.
- Bread of different types.
- Vegetable oil.
- Dairy.
- Fresh and thermally processed vegetables.
- Cereals or legumes.
- Nuts.
- Greens.
Komarovsky's opinion
A popular physician calls vitamins vital compounds, without sufficient intake of which in the adolescent's body, growth processes can be disrupted. Komarovsky believes that the correction of vitamin intake in childhood should begin with an assessment of the adolescent's nutrition.
According to a renowned pediatrician, it is much more important to focus on a balanced child's diet than buying multivitamins for prevention. Komarovsky does not recommend the use of pharmacy vitamin supplements for prophylactic purposes, believing that such complexes are needed only in the presence of hypovitaminosis. For more details, see his transmission.
Tips
- When looking to buy vitamins for your teen, keep in mind that adult supplements are not yet suitable for them. Keep an eye on the complex, in the annotations to which the possibility of application in adolescence is indicated.
- To be sure of the quality of the vitamin supplement that you will give to your teenager, buy the drug from the pharmacy, choosing something from a range of well-known manufacturers with a good reputation.
- When deciding to buy a complex for a teenager, in which minerals are added to vitamins, pay attention to the dosages of calcium, zinc, magnesium, copper, iron and phosphorus. These are the most important mineral compounds under the age of 17.
