A new study shows that about one third of U.S. kids take supplements containing essential vitamins and minerals, but they are not the kids who could benefit most from their use. The children who take vitamin and mineral supplements tend to be the ones who are already in good health, while those who do not take supplements include the children with the poorest health and the worst eating habits.

Researchers at the University of California-Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento analyzed data from 10,828 children ages 2 to 17 who participated in the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The study, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, found that 34 percent of children and adolescents had taken vitamin or mineral supplements in the past month, and almost half of those reported taking such supplements daily. This is a decline from the 1970s, when vitamin use in children was around 50 percent.

The children who were the largest users of vitamins and minerals tended to be those with higher dietary fiber intake, higher milk intake, lower total fat and cholesterol intake, lower computer use, greater physical activity, lower obesity, good health insurance coverage, good health care access, and whose parents reported that they were in good health; exactly the group least likely to benefit from the use of such supplements. Only children who were underweight were both likely to take vitamins/minerals and to benefit from their use.

According to the study, the children at the highest risk for deficiencies, including those with less healthy and varied diets, lower levels of physical activity, greater obesity, lower income and food security, poorer health, and less access to health care, seem to be the least likely to use vitamin and mineral supplements.

It may surprise some the learn that the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend vitamin and mineral supplements for healthy children older than 1 year who consume a varied diet. Instead, supplemental vitamins and minerals are only recommended for certain groups of children, including those with chronic diseases, eating disorders, problems absorbing nutrients or liver disease, or obese children in weight-loss programs

The researchers suggest that one possible explanation for healthier kids being more likely to take vitamins and minerals is that vitamin/mineral use made them healthy in the first place. Another likely explanation is that vitamin-using kids simply have greater access to factors correlated with good health such as health-conscious parents, healthy schools, and walkable neighborhoods.

If your child has a well-balanced diet and does not have a health conditions that require supplemental vitamins/minerals, there may be no need for them to take vitamin or mineral supplements. However, as one of the researchers involved with the study notes, giving children daily multivitamins in the dose recommended on the label probably is not harmful. The present study did not determine use of specific vitamin or mineral supplements, but some researchers believe that children need higher levels of some specific nutrients (such as vitamin D) than they tend to get in their diet, especially children living in certain parts of the country. Talk with your child’s doctor or pediatrician to find out more about your child’s individual nutritional needs.

For more information relevant to your child’s nutrition, join the Healia Health Community for Child Health or the Healia Health Community for Diet and Nutrition. For information about nutritional supplements, see the Healia Health Community on Dietary Supplements.

_{Photo: Lisa Brewster, Flickr, Creative Commons}