UNDATED (WKRC) -- It's a more than 0 billion-a-year industry, vitamins and supplements, and they are not just for adults. Many companies are making vitamins for kids, but do they really need them?Cartoon characters, bright colors, different flavors the vitamin world is speaking to children.But when it comes to taking daily supplements, pediatricians say kids don't necessarily need them."Healthy children who eat a normal, well-balanced diet do not need vitamins, said pediatrician Dr. Denise Nakos. Now that exception is kind of a big one and that is Vitamin D, and what we know is that most children here in the U.S. do not meet their recommended daily amount for Vitamin D."That RDA for Vitamin D for children is 600 International Units a day, the equivalent of 32 ounces or 4 cups of fortified milk, or 4 servings of fortified dairy products such as yogurts and cheeses."Since most children aren't getting that amount of milk, calcium is also part of that, said Dr. Nakos. So we also do recommend a calcium supplement along with the Vitamin D."One final word of caution for parents regarding vitamins made for children:"The only issue would be that you are putting that out of reach like any other medicine, because they do look and they taste like candy, said Dr. Nakos. Especially the gummies well, all of them really so you want to be careful about ingestion, especially any vitamins that contain iron. Iron, if it's overdosed, can be toxic."Follow us on Twitter @Local12 and LIKE us on Facebook for updates!
