Children’s Health Is a Weighty Matter

References

Statistics suggest many American children have come a long way toward increasing caloric intake since childhood literary favorite Oliver Twist said, “I want some more,” in an effort to prevent starvation. The majority of American children do not suffer from lack of calories; in fact, the number of overweight and obese children continues to climb. In addition, nutrient deficiencies and health problems associated with improper dietary choices are alarming both parents and government policymakers. At one time, nutritional deficiencies and the absence of wide-spread vaccination programs and medical care led to the spread of what are now preventable diseases and ailments. To a degree, children are mirroring adults by developing preventable diseases caused not only by having too little, but by having too much.

The well-being of children out-ranks all other concerns for Americans—parents and non-parents alike—including the rising cost of living, taxes, the war in Iraq and terrorism for parents and non-parents alike, according to a 2005 poll conducted in California by the Field Research Corp. for the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. The study also found 61 percent of respondents ranked child obesity and unhealthful eating habits as bigger problems than divorce and family-related problems, second only to youth gang violence and drug and alcohol abuse.¹ “It is striking to see such unanimity on this issue, particularly the extent to which parents and non-parents alike list children as their foremost concern,” said Stephen Peeps, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Lucile Packard Foundation.

And if concern about child nutrition can be measured by use of children’s nutritional supplements, parents are worried. A 2005 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed on average, 46 percent of children aged 1 to 4, and 30 percent of children aged 5 to 18 take a vitamin and/or mineral supplement.² And according to San Francisco-based research firm SPINS, sales of children’s vitamins and minerals in natural products stores grew almost 10 percent from November 2001 to November 2002.

“Parents are becoming increasingly interested in treating children’s health conditions with nutritional supplements before moving on to pharmaceuticals,” said Jim Studer, vice president of sales and marketing at Hero Nutritional Products. “The children’s supplement market is growing at an incredibly fast rate.” Retailers who educate themselves about children’s health issues and learn what both parents and children look for in products, are in a prime position to increase short-term product sales, and create long-term customer loyalty. In particular, focus should be spent on increasing staff product awareness, improving customer care, and implementing innovative marketing techniques to help educate consumers.

Many children have not been well-taught regarding healthy dietary choices; they have an enormous influence on what foods they eat and are too often leading the way to junk food aisles and greasy fast-food restaurants. According to a study conducted by New York-based market research firm Packaged Facts, children wield incredible purchasing power, with children between 5 and 14 years of age influencing 78 percent of total household grocery purchases, equaling $10 billion in annual food and beverage spending.³ Children decide what and when they eat more often than their parents realize. When Nickelodeon, the children’s cable channel, conducted a study called “Kids, Food and Eating Behaviors” it found 74 percent of children surveyed aged 6 to 8 said they choose what foods they eat for breakfast all or most of the time.⁴ Strong purchasing power combined with independent dietary decision-making, may play a part in the rise in obesity rates and nutritional deficiencies.

Vitamins and minerals perform an array of functions that affect children’s mental and physical development, and supplements can help bridge the gaps in the nutritional needs of children. According to the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), common deficiencies found in children are calcium, magnesium, potassium and vitamin E.⁵ Many children are not meeting intake levels for calcium, and children who cannot consume dairy products due to an allergy or lactose intolerance are at a particularly high risk of becoming deficient. Ninety-nine percent of calcium is in bones, and because bones continually remove and replace small amounts of calcium, sufficient intake is essential for proper childhood growth and development. Adequate calcium intake can also help build a child’s “bone bank” to store calcium for later in life to protect against osteoporosis and other conditions caused by calcium deficiency.⁶

Foods are optimal sources of nutrients, but evidence shows children often make poor dietary choices, and even health-conscious parents don’t always feed children properly.

“I would personally recommend young children receive a daily multivitamin-multimineral supplement that contains the recommended daily values,” said nutrition scientist Judy Driskell. In a research study for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Driskell and her colleagues found two-thirds of children fed a low fat diet were deficient in vitamin E, and onethird were deficient in vitamin C.^10,11 “Parents are eating a lot of low fat and non fat products, and we’re finding they also give their children such things as skim milk. The low fat diet is probably associated with their being low in vitamin E,” Driskell wrote. Deficiencies were found across all ethnicities, genders and ages.

“People are realizing many foods are void of the best nutrients growing kids need,” said Rebekah Kjose, holistic nutritionist and consultant at Amazing Grass, manufacturers of Kidz Superfood. “To make up for diet deficiencies, they are turning to nutritional supplements to help their kids get the nutrition that may be lacking in their diet.”

“Supplements offer an easy way for children to receive the nutrients they need daily to help them avoid health-related issues that can stem from vitamin deficiency,” Studer said.

Choosing the right supplement can be difficult and retailers should help parents make good choices by thoroughly familiarizing themselves with products. Some children cannot or will not swallow tablets or capsules, and trying to force a child to take a bad tasting supplement can create an adversarial situation. Flavored, chewable products are popular with children because they taste good, and are popular with parents because children will take them. However, some children’s chewables contain artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors and hydrogenated fats.

“Nutritional supplementation is an absolute must for children,” said Corinna Benoit, national sales manager of Nordic Naturals, manufacturer of Children’s Chewable DHA and Berry Keen Cod Liver Oil for kids. “However, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives [in supplements] can damage the sensitive system of a young child.” Natural products retailers can differentiate themselves from mass market competition by stocking chewable products that are naturally sweetened, flavored and colored.

Multis have long been used to supply deficient nutrients, but not all experts agree that childhood supplementation is a good idea. Some experts prefer most children to receive nutrients from food sources. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests supplementing children’s diets only when a child is a poor eater and at high risk for nutritional deficiencies; but, it recognizes over-the-counter supplements are generally safe. ¹¹

“Ideally, children should be able to obtain all necessary nutrients through whole foods,” Kjose said. “Unfortunately, society today encourages the consumption of processed, junk and fast foods.”

Resolving the problem of malnourished and underfed children continues to be a concern for society; however, a parallel concern is that American children are consuming too much food, and the wrong kind. Additionally, adequate exercise is not commonly taken as a matter of course during the day-to-day activities of our increasingly sedentary population. Due to society’s increased prosperity; advances in food production resulting in the high availability of foods at low prices; vigorous marketing of high fat, high calorie foods to children; and the prevalence of confusing and conflicting nutrition information—America has a population of sometimes undernourished, albeit overweight and obese, children. “Obesity is a major health concern, regardless of age,” Benoit said. “First and foremost, we need to make certain our children are eating a nutrient-rich diet. Prepackaged food is a major culprit, as is the ease of a drive through and the fact that both parents often work long hours and may not therefore have the time to prepare fresh meals from quality food sources.”

The childhood obesity epidemic, like its adult counterpart, has far-reaching social implications and a stunning economic impact. A study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found obesity-related expenditures in 2003 were $113 billion.¹² The American Obesity Association reports that approximately 30.3 percent of children aged 6 to 11 are overweight, and 15.3 percent are obese.¹³

And according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), over the past three decades, childhood obesity has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2 to 5 and for adolescents aged 12 to 19, and has more than tripled for children aged 6 to 11.¹⁴ The CDC asserts eating behaviors of children are a factor of obesity, reporting more than 40 percent of children and adolescents in the United States exceed guidelines for saturated fat; 80 percent do not eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables; and many try to lose weight by unsafe methods. During the 30 days preceding the survey, 13 percent of students surveyed went without eating for one or more days, 6 percent had vomited or taken laxatives, and nine percent had taken diet pills, powders or liquids without the advice of their doctor. ¹¹ “When children consume empty calories with no nutritional value, their bodies crave the nutrients they are missing, causing them to eat more, increasing the risk of obesity,” Studer said. “By giving children daily multivitamins, you can decrease their bodies’ craving for these nutrients.”

“Marketing messages that promote unhealthy products tend to be more prevalent and louder than those from companies producing healthy foods and nutritional supplements for children,” said Ryan Stirland, vice president of marketing and business development at Xlear, manufacturers of xylitol-based products. And yet, natural products retailers can compete by focusing on fulfilling the needs of their own customer-base by stocking quality products and marketing them in effective and compelling ways.

As parents continue to demand targeted, convenient natural solutions to address childhood health conditions, category growth will continue. “The growth potential is unlimited,” Kjose said. “It continues to grow daily, and I don’t see it dying down.” And as competition for market share heats up, natural products retailers who successfully anticipate and address the concerns of parents, and the tastes of kids, will find opportunities to profit.

Supplements Help At-Risk Children

Basic multivitamin/multimineral dietary supplements are the basis for the Vitamin Relief USA Children First campaign. The nonprofit organization serves more than 15,000 at-risk children daily in 41 states through more than 550 collaborative distribution sites. The program sites include Head Start and WIC programs, public school districts, community health centers, homeless and battered women shelters, Boys & Girls clubs and many other community-based and faith-based organizations.

Parents and teachers report children participating in the Vitamin Relief Children First program earn higher grades, are sick less often, behave better and have greater self-esteem compared to classmates not receiving supplements. Results from the Vitamin Relief USA congressionally funded research study on the impact of vitamin intake on the academic performance of at-risk youth is expected later this fall. The study involved more than 800 fourth-grade students in 23 schools in New Jersey.

Further information on the Vitamin Relief USA programs is available online at www.vitaminrelief.org, or contact the organization at Vitamin Relief USA, P.O. Box 567, Ojai, CA 93024.

References: "Children's Health is a Weighty Matter."
Health Supplement Retailer

1. Lucile Packard Foundation. "Well-being of Children Tops Californians' Concerns." Mar. 2005. www.lpfch.org/newsroom/childhealthtopconcern.pdf

2. Frazao, E. "Nutrition and Health Characteristics of Low-Income Populations: Meal Patterns, Milk and Soft Drink Consumption, and Supplement Use." U.S. Department of Agriculture, Feb. 2005. www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib796/aib796-4/aib796-4.pdf

3. Packaged Facts. "The U.S. Kids' Market." May 2002. www.packagedfacts.com/pub/718857.html

4. "Kids, Food and Eating Behaviors." PR Newswire. May 2005. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=LAPCENT.story
&STORY=/www/story/07-13-2005/0004066700&EDATE=WED+Jul+13+2005,+12:12+PM

5. Council for Responsible Nutrition. "New Dietary Guidelines Flag Need for Supplements." Jan. 2005. www.crnusa.org/PR05_0113_Guidelines.html

6. American Academy of Pediatrics. "Calcium, Building Your Bone Bank." 2002. www.aap.org/patiented/calciumbank.htm

7. Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health. "Magnesium." 2005. www.ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium.asp

8. National Library of Medicine. "Potassium in Diet." Oct. 2004. www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002413.htm

9. Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health. "Vitamin E." Mar. 2005. www.ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamine.asp

10. Stella M. Yu et al. "Vitamin-Mineral Supplement Use Among Preschool Children in the United States." American Academy of Pediatrics. 5, 100:p.e4, 1997. www.pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/100/5/e4

11. Klucas, Gillian. "Preschoolers Short on Vitamins." Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Mar. 2005. www.ianrnews.unl.edu/static/0503281.shtml

12. Center for Disease Control. "Nutrition and the Health of Young People." June 2005. www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/

13. American Obesity Association. "Childhood Obesity: Prevalence and Identification." May 2005. www.obesity.org/subs/childhood/prevalence.shtml

14. Institutes of Medicine. "Childhood Obesity in the United States: Facts and Figures." Sept. 2004. www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/22/606/0.pdf

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