Vitamin marshmallows for babies: Is there any harm or benefit?

Recently, vitamin marshmallows for babies have emerged as a phenomenon and are quite trusted by mothers. However, those adorable “bear candy” vitamins are really good and they have potential harm to children, not everyone knows.

Vitamins for children are never "hot" keywords, especially for mothers with young children. The reason is that the issue of vitamin supplementation for children is always a topic that receives a lot of attention. Which vitamins are good for products, which brands are suitable or which are suitable for babies? Just that much will give you quite a headache, right?

Vitamins are indispensable nutrients for the body of each person. They help maintain the normal living activities that take place in the body. For children, they are essential for their development. It is worrying that children's diets often do not provide all the vitamins their bodies need, but babies rarely take vitamin supplements. This is because children often think vitamin supplements are drugs that they don't inherently like to take.

To solve this problem, manufacturers market vitamins in the form of marshmallows specifically for babies. These vitamins are quite easy to use due to their pleasant taste, in addition they are "hidden" in the shape of a bear, a crocodile or a very cute fruit.

What is vitamin marshmallows for babies?

The marshmallow vitamin is a chewable vitamin that has the same texture and taste as a regular marshmallow. It contains many popular essential vitamins in a variety of eye-catching flavors, colors and shapes. Sometimes there are just some specific types selected, such as vitamin D or calcium.

In terms of dosage composition, these nutritional marshmallows are usually made from gelatin, water, sugar, corn starch and added colorants. The main flavor used for this type of candy is usually a synthetic fruit flavor such as strawberry, orange, lemon, raspberry, peach ... Mothers can rest assured that there are many choices suitable for your baby's preferences. Loved.

This form of vitamin is especially suitable for children, especially picky eaters, some are also for adults, especially for those who are afraid of taking drugs. In addition, the nutritional marshmallows are also quite easy to chew and not too difficult to swallow.

Benefit from nutritional marshmallows

It is obvious that everyone understands that taking vitamins is to supplement the body vitamins. Although some research now shows that an ordinary person with a full diet does not need to take additional multivitamins . But many people believe that eating only foods often does not provide enough vitamins needed for daily needs.

In addition, mothers often have psychology to give their children more vitamins to prevent deficiency, so that their children are as big as neighbors' children. Besides, there are some people who think that taking vitamin supplements is the same as their own lifestyle and "without vertical supplements, supplementing horizontally".

Going back to the topic of the benefits of nutritional marshmallows for babies, mothers often give their babies this extra to prevent vitamin deficiency cases in children. Its consequences are extremely serious if we do not pay attention to the amount of candy, the ingredients in the candy that children use. Indiscriminate use of vitamin supplements can cause problems:

Affect growth

Immunodeficiency

Increased risk of rickets in young children

Suffering from bacterial infections

As for the children who show signs of picky eating, not eating, lest they be plasticizing vitamins can be an alternative that could not be better. For adults, taking vitamin supplements should only apply to typical subjects such as diets of certain foods (a vegan diet), anorexia or those with high nutritional needs such as athletes, pregnant.

Do nutritional marshmallows cause any disadvantages?

You already know that drugs or functional foods have their own advantages and disadvantages, this kid's marshmallow is no exception. If you read the information on the label carefully, you will see that the ingredients of marshmallows contain added sugar, sugar alcohol (a type of carbohydrate found in fruits and herbs used to produce sugar and not sweeter than sugar. sugarcane), food colorants, preservatives ...

Sugar is a catalyst for flavoring many foods, and consuming too much sugar increases the risk of tooth decay, obesity and heart disease. Therefore, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends for subjects 2-18 years old, consuming no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar per day. Not to mention the energy level in each baby multivitamin marshmallow can normally be around 15 calories per pill. This also contributes to increasing the total number of calories that the baby consumes each day. Although the amount of sugar in nutritional marshmallows is not large, it can contribute to excessive sugar consumption, especially when babies consume more than one candy per day and eat other foods with added sugar.

Manufacturers have been trying to find ways to reduce the amount of added sugar by adding a sugar alcohol formula. The use of this sugar can also lead to a number of conditions such as  diarrhea in children , nausea, flatulence and other undesirable digestive symptoms.

Baby candies will not be attractive without a colorant. Several types of artificial colorants have been shown to influence children's behavior; in particular , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) . So mothers should also pay attention to carefully consult the ingredients before giving them to the baby.

Looking at the ingredients on the packaging, you can be overwhelmed with the variety of nutrients. But in fact, a recent report found that 80% of the tested vitamin marshmallows did not have the same amount of vitamins and minerals as listed on the manufacturer's label. It can be seen that this special candy is not as nutritious as people believe. Manufacturers reason that they cannot "package" many minerals and vitamins in a single candy, since sugar, colorants and other ingredients must be added to maintain the texture of the chewable candy.

Vitamin marshmallows for babies are easy to overeat because they taste good

In fact, it is rare for any child to "ignore" the delicious, eye-catching vitamin gummies. Children already love candies, so they eat more than they need. Children consuming marshmallows too much can lead to the risk of excess nutrients, especially when these nutrients are also provided from food.

Vitamins are essential and necessary nutrients, but that doesn't mean they are harmless. Excessive excess will lead to poisoning, causing harm to the body. Oil-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K are recommended to be more careful as they can be stored in body fat and tissues. Therefore, parents need to be more careful when giving their children vitamin supplements and pay more attention to their child's diet and nutritional needs.

Vitamin marshmallows for babies are really necessary?

Children with good nutrition are not required to use. However, malnourished children, older children with high nutritional needs, and anorexic children may be the subjects that need vitamin marshmallows.

One more thing to note that you should not because you feel your child likes to eat, but let them eat more than necessary. This can lead to overnutrition or make the baby full and unable to eat other foods. In addition, children should not eat too quickly, swallowing quickly, leading to choking. If that happens, you can handle it by: placing the baby on his back, sitting down with his head, placing his hands on his or her hips and doing a strong pressure below the chest, moving in the direction of the slide towards the top. Repeat until the object leaves the throat.

You can learn more about first aid when a child is choking through the article  Learn first aid when a child has a choking.

The nutritional supplement for your baby is very necessary and especially the vitamin marshmallow for babies is a bright candidate in the list of nutritional foods for children that all mothers need. Choose the product according to your baby's needs as well as find a reputable manufacturer.