Answer:

According to Linda van Horn, RD, PhD, and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, if a child consumes a balanced diet, vitamins are not necessary. Van Horn emphasizes eating a diet rich in whole grains, protein, fruits, and vegetables as the best way for a child to get essential nutrients.

However, if a child is a picky eater and is consequently avoiding whole food groups, he or she may need a vitamin. When this is the case, van Horn recommends that parents discuss the issue with a pediatrician. "There is always a concern about toxicity, or poisoning, especially in a child," she says. The risk of toxicity is greater in children because they have less developed livers and kidneys where vitamins are processed.

If your pediatrician has determined that your child needs a multivitamin, you should choose carefully. Van Horn recommends the following tips:

• elect a multivitamin, not a single-nutrient vitamin. "A single dose of one vitamin is less appropriate for a child than a multivitamin, because a multivitamin is balanced and more likely to be at a pediatric dose than a single-nutrient vitamin," she says.
• Look for a multivitamin that does not exceed the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) in any area. "No one nutrient acts independently -- they all interrelate," explains van Horn. "Frequently parents will go after a single nutrient -- like vitamin C or calcium. Too much of one nutrient or vitamin can interfere with the absorption or utilization of others."