The answer to that question is not a clear yes or no. It all depends on your kids' needs, lifestyle and willingness to eat certain foods. My answer is yes, occasionally.
I've always debated whether my kids need vitamins, and I often feel like we fall short with food. But the general consensus seems to be that for normal, healthy kids with no dietary restrictions, multivitamins are not necessary. If your child follows a restricted diet (i.e., vegan, vegetarian, no dairy), you may want to talk to their doctor about what nutrients could be missing and take individual supplements.
When to give vitamins
Most research shows that young kids particularly get what they need from diet alone. In one study, children were not getting adequate calcium and vitamin D regardless of supplement use. And some kids taking supplements were getting too much iron, vitamin A, zinc and folate.
Sometimes our kids may be especially active or we've just had a busy week and haven't been making great food choices. Those times and during cold and flu season are when I tend to give my kids vitamins. I usually do half the dose to avoid overdosing them on certain vitamins such as Vitamin A, zinc and niacin.
Types of vitamins
To get the best vitamins, sometimes you may feel like you have to go out and spend a lot of money, but it's likely not worth it. Our body's absorption of vitamins and minerals is complex, and nobody really knows how much of a multivitamin gets absorbed. Naturally derived vitamins are likely to work with your body better than synthetic vitamins, so they are probably worth a little extra money.
For more reading, here's what webMD has to say about kids and vitamins.
Do you give your kids vitamins or other supplements? What do you use?
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