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Special vitamin needs

Some people are especially vulnerable to vitamin deficiencies, or they come out worse if it happened to them.

Children - because they are growing - and seniors - because they are more likely to have absorption problems - have special vitamin needs.

Special vitamin needs for children

Eating a nutritionally-balanced diet is good advice for children as well as adults. In fact, teaching children to make the right food choices is one of the best tools you can arm them with. Unfortunately, many children today aren't taught how to make good food choices because their parents don't know what the 'right' food choices are.

There's no denying that the vitamins and minerals children need to grown are found in fruits and vegetables. They're also found in lean meats and dairy products, foods that children generally pass up when given the choice. Why eat those foods when the world has so many others to offer?

Take a look at food through a child's eye. What do you see? Pizza, ice cream, corn dogs, hot dogs, French fries, potato chips, sugary fruit drinks, energy drinks, caffeinated soda, cake, cookies, candy, processed portable lunch 'kits' and of course, the all-important, readily-available, drive-thru fast food.

If you've ever taken a look at the food pyramid, you know that these types of foods are represented, but only by a tiny sliver. That means these foods should make up just a fraction of a person's daily food intake. They shouldn't be eaten at each meal, and in between, as snacks. But they are, all too often. It's obvious just by looking at children that many are not eating properly.

Not only are the wrong food choices causing children to be dangerously overweight, they're also the reason why many children are not getting the vitamins and minerals their bodies need to function properly. Of the essential vitamins and minerals the body needs, it is capable of producing just a few on its own. The rest must come from food.

From the first days of life, a child needs Vitamin D. Vitamin D is crucial to the development of healthy, strong teeth and bones. Rickets, a disease thought to be under control, is once again becoming a serious health issue. Its symptoms include bones that are deformed and that are soft and brittle. The skull, for example, is supposed to be thick and hard. One of the first notable signs of rickets is a skull that is thin and soft. If the shape of the head doesn't form properly, as can happen with Rickets, teeth may not grow in properly. And from there, it's getting worse. Wrists, ribs, knees, ankles all may experience abnormal growth.

Deficiencies in other vitamins may not produce such obvious effects, which is why many parents may not even realize problems exist. Vitamins provide the instructions for all bodily functions including vision, production of red blood cells and growth hormones and proper development of every major system including the immune system, circulatory system and digestive system.

If your child's diet consists of the foods listed above, you need to take immediate action. Try to introduce more vitamin-dense foods into the diet. In the meantime, encourage your child to take a daily vitamin supplement that has been formulated for children. It will provide the nutrients your child needs to develop properly, it'll taste good, and it'll be easy to chew or swallow.

Special vitamin needs for seniors

Being older does not necessarily mean being wiser when it comes to making the right food choices. You would think that by the time people reach their 'golden years' they would not only understand the importance of eating nutritionally-balanced meals. They'd be well-practiced in doing so.

The reality is, however, that for a number of different reasons, seniors often do not get the vitamins and minerals their aging bodies need to fight the onset of debilitating conditions including the signs of aging.

As people age, their bodies naturally become less efficient at using nutrients. To compound the situation, seniors generally develop more illnesses and as a result, tend to take more medications than other age groups. Many of these medications adversely affect the way the body breaks down nutrients.

Plenty of seniors are living alone and don't feel the need or the desire to prepare nutritionally-balanced meals. Add in the fact that most seniors don't moderately exercise on a regular basis and it's no wonder seniors so frequently exhibit the symptoms of different vitamin deficiencies. As advanced as society is, a good percentage of seniors are considered 'undernourished'.

Vitamin D is as important to seniors as it is to children. It plays a vital role in the body's ability to absorb calcium, which is required to keep bones healthy. Without calcium, bones lose their mass, become brittle and bring about osteoporosis. Few seniors consume the proper amount of dairy products to ensure the body gets ample amounts of vitamin D.

Another serious condition confronting seniors is the oxidation damage caused by free radicals. These are unstable molecules that, when left on their own, run rampant throughout the body, destroying healthy cells. Oxidation is the same process that causes rust to develop on cars.

Antioxidants work to neutralize free radicals, a process which inhibits the amount of damage they cause. Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of antioxidants. They also contain beta-carotenes and a number of important vitamins including Vitamin A, C and E, yet few seniors consume the required amounts.

As healthy cells become damaged, seniors increase their risks of developing heart disease, arthritis, certain forms of cancers, cataracts, Parkinson's disease and many other disorders. Antioxidants also keep the immune system functioning properly. As healthy skin cells break down, skin loses its elasticity and begins to sag, wrinkle and look older.

The body needs Vitamin K to keep the body's blood clotting mechanism functioning properly, yet once again, few seniors get enough. The absence of Vitamin K is believed to also be linked to the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

The list of conditions that result from vitamin deficiencies is long. Everyone, regardless of age, needs to understand the importance of giving their bodies nutrients in order to maintain good health.

If you're not getting the right mix of nutrients from your diet, regardless of the reason, it may be necessary to supplement your diet by taking a daily multi-vitamin. For the most benefit, choose one that has been formulated to suit the changing dietary needs of older individuals.