Press releases
Children cheated by insubstantial health supplements
Parents wanting to give their children a healthy start to a new academic year could be squandering money on supplements which are “barely more than sweets”, according to leading nutritional and medical experts from health supplement comparison site, supplementscompared.com.
The increasing focus on unhealthy school dinners and child obesity, which is said to have trebled over the past 20 years, has led to greater awareness regarding the importance of a healthy lifestyle, with parents often turning to health supplements to ensure that their children are receiving essential nutrients.
However, supplementscompared.com has revealed that many leading brands’ children’s supplements contain less than a third of the guideline amount of ingredients required to have any significant benefit to a child’s health.
A spokesperson from supplementscompared.com explained that not every product on the market will actually make a difference.
“Parents need to be aware that a lot of the jelly multivitamin and mineral supplements for children only contain a very small number of the twelve essential vitamins and limited minerals – they look like sweets, taste like sweets and in a sense they are sweets, only containing a tiny proportion of what many better products provide.”
He added:
“The same applies for many children’s omega 3 products, with the worst perpetrators often the chewy tablets. Parents buy these supplements having read the stories of improved performance at school, but the tiny amount of omega 3 that some of these capsules provide are unlikely to result in any real benefit.”
“Diet during childhood affects the likelihood of the onset of disease both in childhood and in later life so it is important that parents provide their children with a healthy balanced diet and even supplement their diet when necessary – the important thing is that parents do their research before they buy supplements because not all products are equal.”
Findings from supplementscompared.com reveal that:
° Only 6 of the 14 leading children’s multivitamin products reviewed on the site contain all 12 essential vitamins, with some containing as little as 4.
° Of the 16 omega 3 products assessed, 5 popular products, including those by Bassett’s, Morrisons, Superdrug, Asda and Sainsbury’s, contained less than 100mg of omega 3 - less than 25% of the recommended 450mg.
° Parents could save up to £240 a year by swapping their children’s omega 3 brand and receive a better product in the process.
° The best children’s omega 3 products assessed by the supplementscompared.com expert panel were BrainWise by Verywise Nutrition, TeenSense Extra Omega 3 Fish Oil by Haliborange and BrainWise Plus by Verywise Nutrition.
° The best children’s multivitamin and mineral products assessed by the supplementscompared.com expert panel were Animal Chews with Calcium by Holland and Barrett and Kids A-Z by Sanatogen.
Parents can check the quality and value for money of supplements on www.supplementscompared.com.
Back to Press Releases
Get supplement savvy: health supplement facts and fables
The best supplements for the over 50s revealed
Children cheated by insubstantial health supplements
Fight breast cancer with vitamin D
Brands vs own brands: what you should know
Families spending over the odds for omega 3
New health comparison website reveals bogus slimming products
New Health Website Clears the Confusion
New Health Comparison Website Helps Parents Choose the Best Supplements for their Children
New Health Comparison Website to "Revolutionise" Natural Health Market
Press releases
Press Releases