Vitamin K: against brain haemorrhages
Children do not need vitamin K for long. Only in the first 12 weeks after birth is it good for breastfed babies to receive extra vitamin K. These have always been drops, but in the course of this year the default will be an injection. Parents are not obliged to opt for an injection, but the advice of the Health Council is to opt for this.
A deficiency of vitamin K in a baby’s body can lead to brain haemorrhages. Every year, approximately two babies with biliary artresia in the Netherlands have a brain haemorrhage due to a lack of vitamin K. Especially for breastfed babies, a daily dose of 150 micrograms of vitamin K is required for proper blood clotting. According to the Nutrition Center, children who are bottle-fed already get enough vitamin K. It is recommended to give extra if less than 500 milliliters of bottled food is drunk daily. Then drops are sufficient.
The Health Council understands that there are parents who do not want their children injected and advises these parents to give their child two milligrams of vitamin K three times orally. This should then be done immediately after birth, after four to six days and after four to six weeks. With the advice, the council hopes to reduce the number of annual bleeding.
Vitamin D: for strong bones and teeth
The advice for babies and toddlers up to 4 years is to take 10 micrograms of vitamin D daily for strong bones and teeth. It is primarily intended to prevent the rare bone disease rickets. Children up to the age of 4 do not succeed in getting enough vitamin D from food and sunlight, so a supplement is necessary. For children with tan or dark skin, it is recommended to provide 10 micrograms of vitamin D for longer.
There are multivitamins on the market for children up to 4 years of age, but they are actually superfluous. Research by the Consumers’ Association in 2019 shows that many of these multivitamins are not tailored to the needs of young children† Almost half contained (far) too little vitamin D and three products had an unacceptably high dose of vitamin A or folic acid. Also, only half of the 37 multivitamins studied contained iron, a mineral that toddlers are sometimes deficient in. Too much vitamin A can cause poisoning and too much folic acid can leave a vitamin B deficiency undetected.
Parents of healthy children can ignore multivitamins, says the Nutrition Center. As long as vitamin D is given as a supplement.
And what about cod liver oil these days?
Cod liver oil used to be a staple for children, but today it has been replaced by drops or tablets of vitamin D. Cod liver oil is made from the liver of several types of fish and contains iodine, phosphorus, vitamin D, vitamin A and omega-3 fatty acids. As a result, it is good for not only the bones and teeth, but also the brain, skin, eyes and heart.
The taste of cod liver oil: rotten fish. So children did not like being given a spoon and that is no longer necessary for a few decades. According to Parents of NOW makes the product a comeback, especially in health food stores. Some websites and blogs tout it as a superfood. However, it can also be dangerous for children, because it can contain a lot of vitamin A. That is also not safe for pregnant women and that is why the Nutrition Center advises pregnant women not to use supplements with it, and therefore also cod liver oil.
Sources: Nutrition Center, Consumers’ Association, Thuisarts.nl, Parents of NU
–
