AUTHOR: Nicola Miethke, Clinical Naturopath and Nutritionist
Despite our best efforts as parents to give our children a wholesome, balanced diet filled with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, quality protein, and healthy fats, it’s never quite that simple! Perhaps your child is a picky eater and you’re worried that their diet of meat and potatoes every night just isn’t cutting it. Maybe their schedule is so busy or they are so active that it’s hard for them to find the time to eat enough whilst on the go. Or maybe your child has a sensory processing disorder or food allergy/intolerance which limits the variety of foods they are able or willing to eat. Whatever it is, most of the time, children won’t eat everything we give them.
So how we can be sure that our children are getting everything they need to support healthy growth and development while just being kids?
First and foremost, the priority is continuing your best efforts to help your child get the nutrients they need from a predominantly whole, unprocessed diet. But, with various issues affecting our children’s food intake (as mentioned above) and the following statistics to prove it, there are a lot of gaps that need to be filled:
- 95% of children eat insufficient servings of vegetables.
- 40% of children eat insufficient servings of fruit.
- 40% of our children’s energy intake is from discretionary foods.
- On average, only boys aged 4-11 and girls aged 9-11 meet the recommended daily intake for grains.
- Almost all children aged 4-18 do not meet the recommended serving of dairy products, meat, and alternatives.1,2,3
In short, almost all children are missing the mark in at least three of the five primary food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, meats and alternatives, dairy, and alternatives) making it difficult for them to get all the essential vitamins and minerals they need to thrive. “Thrive” being the keyword here. The recommended daily intake (RDI) of vitamins and minerals set out by government guidelines, are purely a baseline for survival. They do not take into consideration individual needs, activity levels, or requirements for optimal well-being.
It doesn’t help that we are busier and more time-poor than ever, and packaged convenience foods are so readily available. Unfortunately, it’s these foods (biscuits, crackers, muffins, potato and corn chips, snack bars) that children tend to love because they are the highest in sugar, salt, and saturated fats, providing them with little other than high levels of kilojoules or what we call “empty calories”. They’re great at keeping them quiet but far from nourishing.
Some of the most common nutritional deficiencies we see in children are vitamin D, vitamin B12, calcium, magnesium, iodine, iron, and zinc.4 Approximately 85% of girls aged 12-18 have inadequate calcium intake, 70% have inadequate magnesium levels and 40% are low in iron.2,5 Whilst 60% of boys aged 12-18 have inadequate magnesium levels and 70% don’t get enough calcium.5 It’s also very common for children, particularly teenagers, to show signs of low levels of B group vitamins (such as fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and irritability) when the pressures of school life start to create additional stress. The reason why we see these deficiencies creep up as our children get older is that the period between the age of 4 and 14 is characterized by rapid growth and cognitive and emotional development. Therefore, giving them a strong nutritional foundation during these years is the best strategy for avoiding problems later on.
Is there an easy solution?
Thank goodness, YES! Kids Good Stuff Multivitamin Drink by Nuzest is the nutritional insurance for our kids that we have all been looking for to put our minds at ease. Adding it to your child’s normal daily diet will not contribute to filling nutritional the gaps to reach their RDIs, but it will also help to ensure they are going above and beyond these recommendations to support optimal health, growth, and development.
Every serving of Kids Good Stuff contains 200% of the RDI for Vitamin D for children aged 4-14, 261% of Vitamin C, 278% of Vitamin B12, 83% of zinc, 63% of iodine, and 21% of calcium. Not to mention a host of other essential vitamins, minerals, fruits, vegetables, herbs, protein, and probiotics to support all 11 body systems through this time of rapid growth.
Is Kids Good Stuff easy to take?
One of the things that kids love the most about Kids Good Stuff Multivitamin Drink is that it tastes so good! So good that even the fussiest of eaters will be happy to take it. With 8g of the highest quality pea protein per serving, Kids Good Stuff makes the perfect addition to breakfast or satisfying snack. It can be blended with your children’s favorite smoothie ingredients or added to raw snacks and treats for a nutrient boost. Try some of our kid-approved, so yummy recipes and allow the creativity to shine.
As a parent, knowing that just one scoop a day can be the difference between your child not getting the nutrients they need to grow and develop properly and your child thriving, it’s an absolute must! It will make you feel confident that you are giving your children the best start in life.
Why is it better than a regular multivitamin?
If you ask me, Kids Good Stuff Multivitamin Drink is a clear winner over any multivitamin capsule or gummy. Not only do children associate gummies with candy, deeming all varieties of chewy confectionary to be “healthy” to them, but it’s impossible to get all the nutritional support children need in just one small chew or capsule. Because Kids Good Stuff comes in a concentrated powder form with no fillers, it’s able to deliver over 50 ingredients in quantities that can support beneficial effects.
Even more important than the quantity is the quality of the ingredients and Kids Good Stuff has absolutely assured this. Every vitamin, mineral, herb, and probiotic in Kids Good Stuff has been selected based on maximum bioavailability, meaning that the body can recognize and absorb the ingredients.
If you are looking for nutritional insurance to give you peace of mind that your child is getting the nutrients they need to support growth...and thrive, then there is nothing like Kids Good Stuff. Kids Good Stuff the best way to keep kids happy from the inside out.
Please note that vitamin and mineral supplements can interact with medications. If your child has been prescribed medication by a Healthcare Practitioner or specialist, it’s important to consult them before consuming a nutritional products. Kids Good Stuff is specifically designed for children ages 4 and up.
References:
- AIHW (2018). Australia’s Health 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2010 from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2018/contents/indicators-of-australias-health/fruit-and-vegetable-intake.
- AIHW (2018). Nutrition Across the Life Stages. Retrieved 13 October 2020 from https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/fc5ad42e-08f5-4f9a-9ca4-723cacaa510d/aihw-phe-227.pdf.aspx?inline=true.
- AIHW (2019). Poor Diet in Children. Retrieved 13 October 2020 https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/food-nutrition/poor-diet/contents/poor-diet-in-children
- Raising Children Network (2020). Vitamins and Minerals. Retrieved 12 October 2020 from https://raisingchildren.net.au/teens/healthy-lifestyle/nutrients/vitamins-minerals#vitamin-and-mineral-deficiencies-nav-title.
- ABS (2015). Australian Health Survey: Usual Nutrient Intakes. Retrieved 12 October 2020 from https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/australian-health-survey-usual-nutrient-intakes/latest-release.
