A new study by researchers at U.C. Davis' Children's Hospital, published today in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, concluded something that many have long suspected: Children in fair to poor health, who are at risk of vitamin and mineral deficiency, aren't taking vitamins.
But here's a mild surprise: Healthy children who don't need vitamins are more likely to take them anyway and may be at risk of overdosing on their Flinstones.
Ulfat Shaikh, assistant professor of pediatrics at UC Davis School of Medicine and the study's lead author, analyzed data on more than 10,000 children from 1999 to 2004 who took part in a nutritional survey. Shaikh found that 37 percent of children in "excellent health" took vitamins; 28 percent of children in "fair or poor health" took vitamins.
"Supplements for children and adolescents who are healthy and eat a varied diet are not only medically unnecessary but they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration," Shaikh said in a press release.
Children sometimes equate vitamins with candy and risk overdose, which can lead to vomiting or, in extreme cases, kidney damage, Shaikh said.
Not surprisingly, socioeconomic factors contributed to the low number of children in "fair to poor" health taking vitamins. Only 22 percent of of children in families living below the poverty line used vitamins.
