A German consumer group flagged issues with 17 of the 18 common supplements it tested.
Parents should think twice before giving their children dietary supplements, a German consumer group warned after testing the ingredients of more than a dozen common products.
Supplements contain vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients and are intended as an add-on to a normal diet – but parents are also bombarded with conflicting messages about whether incorporating them into their child’s diet will help or hurt their growth and development.
The Berlin-based consumer group Stiftung Warentest tested the ingredients of 18 common supplements against recommended nutrient intake levels for young people.
It also analysed how they were advertised and whether their stated benefits were backed up by medical evidence.
The test team flagged issues with 17 of the supplements, with dosages above recommended levels for children in 15 of them. Five contained vitamin A at levels higher than the maximum recommendation for adults.
‘Unnecessary at best, risky at worst’
Overall, Stiftung Warentest said, supplements for children are “unnecessary at best and risky at worst”.
Food supplements are generally not considered necessary for healthy people with normal diets, and they aren’t enough to make up for “one-sided, imbalanced” diets, according to the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), which does food safety assessments.
But supplements, which are regulated as food in the European Union, have become increasingly popular.
A 2022 survey in 14 EU countries found that 93 per cent of adults had taken supplements in the past year, with most of them citing general health benefits.
When it comes to children, supplements are often billed as a way to boost kids’ performance, development, or immune systems, according to BfR.
Those messages, the Stiftung Warentest analysis found, may not be entirely accurate.
“Manufacturers use enticing messages and suggestive images to make their products appealing to parents – sometimes using advertising claims that are illegal,” the group said.
When supplements might be helpful
Meanwhile, Dr Berthold Koletzko, president of the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP) and a paediatric gastroenterologist at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, said the new conclusions are generally reasonable – but that they do not consider cases where vitamins and supplements might be beneficial for children.
“Of course, you can get all the nutrients you need from a balanced diet,” Koletzko told Euronews Health, adding that “most children don’t need supplements”.
However, he said, there are young children and adolescents with “suboptimal supplies of critical nutrients, and even deficiencies” of things like vitamin D, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids.
That’s especially true if their families are vegetarian, gluten-free, or have another restrictive diet, Koletzko said, or if they live in a place without much sun.
A 2017 study, for example, found that 3.4 per cent of German children ages 6 to 17 were vegetarians, a level Koletzko expects has risen in the years since.
Even for children who could benefit from supplements, Koletzko said not all vitamins are created equal. Gummy vitamins, for example, are often high in sugar and run the risk of kids eating too many because they taste and look like sweets.
Children who get too many vitamins and minerals can experience stomach issues or loose stools.
The bottom line, Koletzko said, is that parents worried about their child’s nutritional status should seek guidance from a trusted health professional.
“It’s important if you choose a supplement to select the right one and get advice from your paediatrician,” Koletzko said.
