Teaching Your Kids the Importance of Vitamins

Everyone knows that you need a variety of vitamins every day for a healthy body. Vitamins aid in the prevention of illnesses, help with cellular function and give you energy. When it comes to kids, it's not enough to tell them to eat their vegetables. Kids are curious and they want to know why. Instead of not having an answer, here are several ways to begin teaching your kids about the importance of vitamins.

Explain Supplements

If you're a fit and healthy adult, you're already eating a wide variety of vitamin-rich foods and maybe boosting your performance with a supplement such as the one in a highly-rated Le-Vel Thrive review. While there are also supplements for children, it's necessary for them to know the whole food sources of vitamins first. This will put them on the road to eating correctly. Later, you can explain how vitamins are put into a tablet and why they're beneficial.

Make It As Easy As ABC

Just like kids learn the alphabet, they can easily learn about vitamins from A-E and then on to K. Kids will naturally wonder what happened to the rest of the letters like F-J and maybe you do, too. Many of those vitamins did exist, but they were reclassified into B vitamins or other components such as fats. As far as the rest of the alphabet goes, there simply aren't enough vitamin categories to use every letter and it would be a lot to remember!

Start With Vitamin A

When teaching your kids about vitamins, don't overwhelm them. Instead, try talking about a new one every day starting with vitamin A. Vitamin A is involved in normal body growth and is important for your skin and vision. Good sources are orange-colored foods like carrots, yams, butternut squash, cantaloupe and also greens like spinach and lettuce. Kids will enjoy eating carrot sticks or melon wedges to celebrate all the goodness of vitamin A.

Discuss the B Vitamins

As you move on to vitamin B, there are eight types to learn about. The most well-known B vitamins are thiamin, riboflavin and niacin found in whole grains. Though it's widely believed that B vitamins give you energy, this isn't true. Instead, they help convert other sources into fuel and that's why you'll feel lackluster if you have a deficiency. Kids can think of B vitamins as "helpers". They're also important in keeping red blood cells healthy.

Talk About Vitamins C and D

Kids will probably be most familiar with vitamin C since it's in some of their favorite foods like orange juice and fruit snacks. Vitamin C keeps the immune system strong, but you can't store it so it needs to be replenished every day. Its neighbor, vitamin D, is important for healthy bones and teeth by helping you absorb calcium from milk and yogurt. You can also get Vitamin D from sunlight which is why it's called the "sunshine vitamin", just be sure to wear lots of sunblock!

Finish With Vitamins E and K

Moving along to vitamin E, this nutrient helps your skin and eyesight. It's found in oils, nuts, meat and leafy greens. Vitamin E in oil form is often used to heal wounds and it's good for your nails. Last, vitamin K is actually two vitamins, K1 and K2. K1 helps with blood clotting and can be found in greens like kale, which kids will find easy to remember. K2, on the other hand, is important for bones and blood vessels and is abundant in dairy, chicken and eggs.

Encourage Lifelong Awareness

Although it seems like a lot of information, especially for small children, you'll be pleased at how quickly they learn. Have kids pick out their favorite sources of each vitamin at the supermarket and watch them get excited to help. Learning about vitamins at a young age sets the stage for lifelong nutritional awareness and why eating vitamin-rich foods is so important.