The Story of Children’s Multivitamins

Building a foundation of well-being to last a lifetime

If you were going to build your dream house, you’d first create a strong foundation and then assemble the finest building materials available to complete your project. Constructing a foundation of well-being that will last a lifetime requires the same commitment to quality materials. Good whole foods and good whole-food supplements provide the nutritional diversity and density that form the foundation for optimal well-being.

It’s never too early to assure your children receive the building blocks they need to achieve their physical, mental and emotional “bests.” Good nutrition during childhood will help lay the protective groundwork for immediate and future well-being.

Why are children’s nutritional demands exceptional?

• Children produce MORE THAN A BILLION new cells each day and it takes a lot of nutrients to support this extraordinary growth! Children’s body weights double many times over from the time they’re born. For example, 50% of adult weight is attained during puberty alone!
• Young tissues and organ systems need nutrients to develop properly. For instance, children’s immature defence systems are constantly exposed to challenges and many nutrients have been shown to boost their defences. In addition, children’s delicate lungs are often exposed to smog, automobile exhaust, cigarette smoke and other pollutants and antioxidant nutrients may offer protection from such insults.
• Childhood is a time when cognitive skills (learning, memory) and personalities are developing and scientific studies have found associations between levels of certain nutrients and mental performance and mood.
• Children’s metabolic rates are very high - probably the highest they will ever be - and vitamins and minerals are necessary to keep the body running smoothly.
• Children’s levels of physical activity, growth and renewal create enormous energy demands. Vitamins and minerals work together to help the body better absorb and assimilate other nutrients from foods.
• Children’s poor diets are characterized by inadequate consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and excessive consumption of highly processed, sugary and fatty foods. For instance, children consume 20-30% of their kilojoules as sugar, which means that the remainder of kilojoules must supply all of the nutrients displaced by sugar. Studies show that this isn’t happening, however; children’s diets often don’t supply 100% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for key nutrients.

During childhood, a time of great nutritional need, the diet may well be at its worst. Science has shown supplements can replace nutrients that have been stripped from the foods we eat or that are missing from typical children’s diets.

Three requirements for optimal cellular nutrition in children

#1: Feed their cells. The well-being of the trillions of cells in the human body depends on their ability to receive nutrients that fortify the “Chain of Life”: carbohydrates, lipids/sterols, protein, minerals, vitamins and enzymes. As a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, inadequate nutrition can undermine well-being, both now and later. To create and maintain a strong cellular foundation in childhood, when cellular growth, renewal and rebuilding peak, good nutrition is essential. Without it, cell membranes become compromised in their ability to absorb nutrients and excrete wastes. Cells become “sluggish” and unable to perform their number one function: producing energy for life! If your child’s cells are “sickly,” your child isn’t going to be functioning optimally. But if your child’s cells are functioning optimally, so is your child!

#2: Renew and rebuild their cells. Due to body growth and overall development, children’s cells undergo renewal and rebuilding more often than those of normal adults. To grow, for instance, the body needs protein, a major cellular building block made up of strings of amino acids. Children’s bodies cannot make 10 of the 22 amino acids required to replace old cells and rebuild damaged ones, so these essential amino acids must be supplied in the diet.

#3: Protect their cells. But feeding, renewing and rebuilding cells isn’t enough. Cells also need protection. Since children’s bodies burn a lot of energy, they also produce a lot of free radicals. Free radicals are also generated by sunlight, cigarette smoke, smog, ozone, pesticides, food additives, drugs and several other chemicals to which we and our children are routinely exposed. Antioxidant nutrients can neutralize free radicals. Nutrients such as vitamin C and flavonoids protect the watery regions of cells, whereas those such as the vitamin E family and carotenoids defend their fatty regions, particularly the membranes.

Three ways to meet the nutritional needs of children

GNLD’s “Feel Better” programme for children supports optimal cellular nutrition by providing products to fulfill the specific needs of growing children. Vita Squares provide the lipids, sterols, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that help address the need to feed the cells. Our delicious Nutrishake protein supplement provides the amino acids necessary to support renewal and rebuilding the cells. And GNLD’s antioxidant supplement for children, Vita Guard, delivers a broad spectrum of naturally occurring, whole-food antioxidants to help meet the challenge to protect the cells.

Poor diets handicap children

Nutritional gaps are the rule rather than the exception in children’s diets. Many children fail to get the nutrients they need each day, handicapping their abilities to meet enormous challenges for physical activity and growth and cognitive development. Defence systems can also be weakened, leaving children vulnerable to a variety of challenges.

Children do not eat enough whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes. These are some of Nature’s richest sources of vitamins, minerals and other key nutrients. Virtually all of the world’s major public health organizations recommend high-produce diets. For example, Cancer Institutes recommend 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables each day for optimal well-being.

Even healthy diets have occasional nutritional gaps. Children’s preferences also tend to create dietary shortfalls. “Picky eaters” may avoid healthful foods, such as Brussels sprouts and spinach, while sticking to a narrow range of less healthy favourites, such as sugary cereals and high-fat chips. Processed foods, poor in fibre and essential nutrients, often supplant whole grains in the diet. The result? Children aren’t getting enough of the essential nutrients they need at a time of exceptional growth, activity and learning.

Nutritional gaps in children

Population surveys and scientific studies 1 in 3 indicate children’s diets are often deficient in:

• vitamin A
• niacin
• folic acid
• vitamin B6
• vitamin C
• vitamin E
• carotenoids/flavonoids
• calcium
• iron
• magnesium
• zinc

Supplements are an excellent way to fill dietary gaps. Scientific studies have demonstrated that vitamin and mineral supplements:

• improve mental development in infants
• improve appetite and growth rates in children
• build bone mass in youngsters

Vita squares fill the gap

Vita Squares can make a positive difference. Since they contain semi-essential nutrients, such as choline and inositol and our exclusive Tre-en-en Grain Concentrates, Vita Squares are more than just a multivitamin. The most complete whole-food children’s supplement on the market, GNLD’s chewable Vita Squares provide the nutrient diversity and density cells need for optimal growth, maintenance and rebuilding. Children love them because they’re delicious, but you’ll love them because:

• Vita Squares deliver the finest naturally occurring-source ingredients on the market.
• Naturally occurring sweeteners and flavourings create a great-tasting supplement without the added sugar, preservatives and artificial colourings found in other children’s chewables.
• Tre-en-en Grain Concentrates from whole wheat berries, rice bran and soybeans provides whole-grain nutrients that are removed from the processed foods children tend to favour.
• Our vitamin E offers broad-spectrum antioxidant protection from the entire vitamin E family - not just its most well-known member, alpha-tocopherol.
• As science supports important biological roles for zinc, copper, iron, iodine and manganese, these essential minerals are an important part of the formulation.
• Choline and inositol help support important cognitive functions such as learning and memory.

In sum, Vita Squares contain key whole-food nutrients to support the Chain of Life and give your children a head start!

Technical Information

3 tablets contain		% SARDA
Vitamin A	3000 I.U.	90
Vitamin D	400 I.U.	200
Vitamin E (with mixed tocopherols)	10 I.U.	67
Vitamin C	60mg	100
Vitamin B1	1,5mg	107
Vitamin B2	1,5mg	94
Niacinamide	13mg	72
Vitamin B6	1,4mg	70
Folic Acid	200µg	100
Vitamin B12	3µg	300
Biotin	150µg	150
Pantothenic Acid	10mg	167
Iron	6,0mg	43
Iodine	75µg	50
Zinc	7,5mg	50
Copper	0,5mg	*
Manganese	1,0mg	*
Chromium (yeast)	20µg	*
Choline	4,5mg	*
Inositol	4,5mg	*
Stabilized
Tre-en-en Grains	70mg	*

*No SARDA established for this ingredient.

Dosage

Take 3 tablets daily.

Note: As calcium and magnesium are macrominerals - meaning they are required in the diet in large amounts - they were too bulky to include in the Vita Squares formulation, but good sources for both are Cal-Mag and Nutrishake, respectively, both of which are part of the GNLD’s “Feel Better Programme” for Children.