Why is there Sugar in Kids' Multivitamins?
Table of Contents
Today parents give their kids multivitamins to make sure their growing bodies have everything they need. But there’s a downside to this well-intentioned trend: most kids’ multivitamins are also packed with added sugar, so they end up causing as many problems as they claim to solve.
But why do typical children’s multivitamins have so much sugar in the first place? Let’s break this down below.
Gummy Vitamins – The Attractive Option Taken by Kids Everywhere
The kids' multivitamin industry has a huge problem: a glut of gummy and sugary multivitamins taken by far too many kids. It’s not necessarily the parents’ fault. Indeed, most parents only want the best for their kids, so they try to get them vitamins they’ve been told are healthy and they know their kids will enjoy taking every day.
This is especially true for parents who have kids that might be picky with what they eat. Some kids are notorious for only eating a few select items, so ensuring that they get a well-rounded diet can be a challenge.
Modern gummy multivitamins are popular with kids since gummies are packed with added sugar, easy to chew and swallow, and often come in colorful varieties or shapes. In addition, gummy multivitamins come in a wide range of flavors, so there’s apparently a gummy multivitamin for every kid: raspberry, lemon, orange, and cherry are just a few examples.
The Downsides of Sugary, Gummy Vitamins
However, these gummies’ popularity is not proof of their health benefits. First gummy vitamins were never designed to be a health food, so they tend to include a variety of synthetic ingredients. Most include gelatin, artificial dyes, corn starch, and other fillers.
And most of them also have a host of unnecessary or downright unhealthy ingredients. These include:
- Glucose syrup
- Sucrose
- Pork-based gelatin
- Toxic filler
- Sugar coatings
In fact according to one major study, 80% of gummies don’t even include what’s listed on the label. That’s because gummy vitamins are an awful delivery mechanism for vitamins and were never meant to be vitamins in the first place. It’s a main reason that many vitamin companies will require kids to take up to four gummies per day -- because the gummies themselves are notoriously bad at holding vitamins.
Why is So Much Sugar Added?
There’s a simple answer to this question: because kids love sugar and sugar sells.
Remember, kids are notoriously picky eaters, yet almost all of them love sugar to a fault. This is normal since from an evolutionary perspective, our brains are wired to enjoy sweet foods. Kids have stronger sweet teeth than adults, in part because it helped urge them to eat sugary fruits and other foods back in our evolutionary history.
However, this negatively affects modern children. Big Food and Big Vitamins have packed everything with too much sugar, which can wreak havoc with their bodies and end up leading to dietary deficiencies. Furthermore, lots of kids suffer from weight gain and unhealthy sugar content in their diets, leading to the current obesity epidemic that America’s in the midst of.
Again, most parents only want the best for their kids. They don’t intentionally give them sugary gummy multivitamins to make them overweight intentionally. Yet the reality is the sugar in these gummies can offset the limited value from the vitamins in the gummies themselves. In short: tons of modern multivitamins have up to 5 g of sugar purely to make them attractive to kids. It’s one of the few ways parents can think of to make sure their kids actually take their vitamins everyday instead of vetoing them.
Alternative Multivitamins
However, just because sugary multivitamins dominate the vitamin aisle at the grocery store doesn’t mean there aren’t any worthwhile alternatives. In fact, companies like Hiya have been producing top-tier and healthy kid’s vitamins for some time and have built a cult-like following from wellness experts and parents alike.
In fact, our multivitamin is designed to be different from the ground up.
- For instance, Hiya includes 12 organic fruits and vegetables then supercharges those with 15 essential vitamins and minerals. By blending all of these great things together, Hiya creates an effective multivitamin that's easy to chew and that provides your child's growing body with exactly what it needs.
- What’s included? The Hiya multivitamin is full of nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin B1, biotin, calcium, iodine, zinc, and much more -- each individually chosen for a specific reason
- Again, all of these vitamins and minerals are derived from optimal sources, giving your kids the best.
All in all, our chewable multivitamin does just as good a job as a commercial gummy multivitamin filled with or covered in sugar. But ours does it without all that sugar content and any of that gummy additives which can cause cavities.
Are Hiya’s Kids Multivitamins Also Sweet?
It sure is. But there’s a big difference!
You see, we understand that it’s a lot easier to get kids to eat sweet things versus boring or bland multivitamins. That’s why we flavor each of our chewables with natural monk fruit extract.
What’s monk fruit? It’s a type of super fruit that has a powerful and sweet flavor profile, in part due to its antioxidant content. We also add some mannitol: this is an all-natural sweetener found in many fruits and vegetables. It’s a particularly good choice for young kids since dentists often recommend this sweetener to be used to prevent tooth decay from setting in.
All in all, our multivitamin chewable is tasty, enjoyable for kids, and provides them with the nutritional building blocks they need to grow to become healthy adults. Who said you can’t combine tasty with nutritious?
Summary
In the end, Hiya’s Chewable Multivitamin offers a compromise between flavor/texture and nutritional content. With our multivitamin, you don’t have to choose between one or the other and your child will get everything they need for growth and development.
Best of all, you can get Hiya’s multivitamin on a monthly basis. We ship the vitamins straight to your door and use renewable bottles to stay eco-friendly. Give us a try and see what you think!
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/gummy-vitamins#what-they-are
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