You know, according to the article, vitamins "can't hurt.... probably is harmless," so would you want to chance it with your little one?
"Study: A third of US children take vitamins; Most are healthy and probably don't need to" by Associated Press | February 3, 2009
Giving healthy children daily doses of multivitamins is unnecessary, Dr. Ulfat Shaikh, the study's lead author said. (Wiqan Ang for the Boston Globe/FILE 2007)
CHICAGO - About a third of US children and teens take vitamins, though most of those taking the pills are healthy, active kids who probably don't need them, a new study suggests.
Youngsters who could benefit the most from vitamins - those in fair or poor health with the worst eating habits - were the least likely to take them, researchers reported.
The survey of parents of children ages 2 to 17 was conducted from 1999 to 2004. The results show a decline in vitamin use from the 1970s when about half of all American children took vitamins, the study's lead author said. The study highlights a question doctors often get from parents: Should I give my children vitamins?
Stacy Fournier, of Gainesville, Fla., says it's often on her mind even though her daughter is a great eater.
"I probably bring it up every other time we visit the pediatrician because it is looming on my mind and I want to make sure that she's healthy," said Fournier, whose daughter is almost 3. For now, Fournier has heeded her doctor's advice against it, but she still wonders, "Why not? It can't hurt."
The study's lead author, Dr. Ulfat Shaikh, a pediatrician at the University of California-Davis Children's Hospital in Sacramento, says taking daily multivitamins in the dose recommended on the label probably is harmless. However, they often aren't needed for healthy children with a varied diet, she said.
Why would the paper want to discourage spending on vitamins?
Shaikh said kids in the study "who had the ideal profile - higher dietary fiber intake, higher milk intake, lower total fat and cholesterol intake, lower computer use, greater physical activity, lower obesity, kids that had insurance coverage, had good health care access, whose parents said that they were in good health - these kinds of kids were the highest users."
She noted that vitamin and mineral supplements aren't cheap. A bottle of 100 multivitamin-mineral tablets for kids can cost around $10, depending on the brand. Almost $2 billion is spent on them annually.
Yeah, money that could have gone to a drug company to pump your kid full of chemicals.
Also, some parents and teens may mistakenly think taking a daily pill will make up for a lousy diet, Shaikh said. Pediatricians generally agree that the best source for vitamins and minerals is a varied diet that includes fresh fruit, vegetables, and fiber - not pills.
The new study, released Monday in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, asked about use of vitamin and mineral supplements in general, not about specific ones including vitamin D. It found supplement use was most common among frequent milk drinkers and those with varied diets - children who likely are meeting the academy's latest recommendations.
The study is based on data from 10,828 kids whose parents took part in a national health survey that included interviews about diet and supplement use. Overall, 34 percent of the children had recently taken vitamin/mineral supplements and almost half of users took them daily.--more--"
I guess the MSM doesn't hold stock in vitamin companies, or they are too natural for agenda-pushing promotion.
Truthfully, I don't know what it is, nor do I care anymore. For one reason or another, the MSM promotes certain products and not others, no matter what the issue.
