Why is vitamins important?
Children's diets must supply the right amounts of vitamins to help ensure proper growth. Each vitamin plays its own important part in children's development.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A promotes normal growth, healthy skin, and tissue repair, and helps color and night vision.

B Vitamins
The B vitamins-B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B6, B12, niacin, folic acid, and pantothenic acid-help give children energy and absorb nutrients. Vitamin B6 helps the body fight illness and infection, while vitamin B12 is used to develop red blood cells.

Vitamin C
Children's bodies need vitamin C both to form certain chemicals and to put others to use. Vitamin C also plays a key role in helping children's bodies absorb iron.

Vitamin D
Vitamin D is crucial for children because the body uses it to help get calcium into the bones. Sunlight helps the body to make vitamin D.

What quantity of vitamins do toddlers need?
Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) for vitamins have been developed by US and Canadian scientists for various life stage groups, including children. If vitamins are consumed at the recommended levels, nearly all children should be able to meet their nutritional needs.

Other countries may have their own systems for recommendations.

How can toddlers get their vitamins?
Vitamin A comes from eggs, cheese, yellow vegetables, and liver.

Bread, whole grains, and liver are sources for B vitamins. Beans and pork provide vitamin B1, and meat, fish, eggs, and milk provide vitamin B12.

Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits and various vegetables.

In some countries, milk and some other foods are sometimes fortified with vitamin D.

Fortified growing-up milks, such as PROGRESS GOLD, can help meet vitamin needs during early childhood. Used as a complement to solid foods, just 2 servings per day of PROGRESS GOLD provide a significant percentage of most vitamins to help prevent deficiencies.

Reprinted with permission from Wyeth Nutrition