Vitamins and minerals occur naturally in the food you eat, and it is important to eat a balanced diet to provide adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients. Each vitamin plays a specific role in keeping your body healthy and working properly, and this is especially true for children so that the body develops properly. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is found in both animal and plant sources and plays a variety of important roles in your body.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is made up of a group of compounds that can be broken down into two categories based on their source: Animal sources of vitamin A are preformed retinoids, and plant sources of vitamin A are provitamin carotenoids. It helps to make white blood cells, helping to regulate the immune system. It also plays a role in cell differentiation, where cells become a part of specialized tissue such as that found in the brain, and cell division. Vitamin A is important for healthy vision, bone growth and helps to maintain the health of the cells that line the body's interior surfaces.
RDAs for Children
The Recommended Dietary Allowances, or RDAs, for vitamin A have been established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Health. In children age 1 to 3 the RDA is 300 mcg a day, children age 4 to 8 the RDA is 400 mcg a day, and in children age 9 to 13 the RDA is 600 mcg a day. Deficiency of vitamin A is a concern in developing nations suffering from malnutrition, but it is rare in industrialized countries like America.
UL for Children
The tolerable upper intake level, UL, is the maximum amount that is considered by the Food and Nutrition Board to be safe to consume without adverse health effects. In children age 1 to 3 the UL is 600 mcg a day, age 4 to 8 the UL is 900 mcg a day, and age 9 to 13 the UL is 1,700 mcg a day. It is easy to get too much preformed vitamin A from supplements, so if you are considering giving your child a multivitamin supplement, seek advice from your health care provider and look for one that primarily uses provitamin carotenoids, beta-carotene, as the source of vitamin A.
Sources of Vitamin A
Animal sources of vitamin A include liver, whole milk or fortified skim milk, cheese, and eggs or egg substitutes. Plant sources of vitamin A include carrots and carrot juice, dark green leafy vegetables such as kale and spinach, cantaloupes, apricots or apricot nectar, tomato juice, peaches or peach juice and red peppers. Like skim milk, many breakfast cereals such as instant oatmeal, and juices are fortified with vitamin A.
References
- KidsHealth: Vitamins
- MayoClinic: Vitamin A (retinol)
- Office of Dietary Supplements National Institute of Health: Vitamin A and Carotenoids
- Havard School of Public Health: Vitamin A
- Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): Recommended Dietary Allowances and Adequate Intakes, Vitamins
- Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): Tolerable Upper Intake Levels, Vitamins
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