Are your kids eating enough food, and still they seem to be missing out on their health? If that is the case, you need to pay attention. Every food that we eat is not a balanced food; it may be missing some important vitamins that play a vital role in the functioning of our body.

Here is some important general information about vitamins;

• Vitamins are naturally occurring compounds that are part of your nutrition.
• Your body needs them to function and develop normally.
• There are 13 different types of essential vitamins.
• Vitamin deficiency means that your body is lacking any specific vitamin or more. Vitamin deficiency usually refers to long-term undersupply of vitamins. Weakness can be due to a lack of proper intake, or there may be an issue in the absorption of the vitamin.
• Whatever the reason, vitamin deficiency can lead to severe diseases.

Children are mostly affected due to vitamin deficiencies as they affect their average health and mental growth. Many diseases occur due to vitamin deficiency; some common ones are listed below:

Vitamin Deficiency Related Diseases In Kids

Insomnia

It is recently observed that children are suffering from sleeplessness more than ever. The main reason for this is the excess use of screens, especially before bedtime. Other reasons include a lack of some important vitamins and antioxidants. Extended screen times affect the production of melatonin in kids’ bodies that ultimately results in sleeplessness. You need to inculcate food sources that are rich in vitamins and antioxidants.

Almonds, walnuts, fatty fish, chamomile tea are some foods that help relieve insomnia in kids and adults. Besides the mentioned natural sources which can improve sleeping patterns, to assure your child gets adequate amounts of nutrients you can also incorporate some multivitamins. For example, melatonin gummies for kids are very effective in helping your child to sleep better.

Rickets

Rickets is a disease of young children which causes bone deformities. Characteristic symptoms of rickets are bone pain, soft weakened bones, and muscle weakness. It can also lead to bone fracture or skeletal deformities in severe conditions, including thinning of ankles, knees, and wrist, soft skull bones, bending of legs, and rarely bending of the spine. Sometimes overall growth of the skeleton stops resulting in stunted growth. Dental problems may also arise with rickets in some children. The more calcium your kids consume, the stronger their teeth will become. Greenpeach liquid calcium for kids and adults can be used as a supplement.

Deficiency of vitamin D causes rickets, and if the calcium level is also low, the outcome is severe. Sometimes it is also caused due to a genetic condition in which vitamin D is not absorbed in the body. Treatment of the disease is possible by using vitamin D supplements and eating vitamin D-rich foods such as fish, egg yolks, and grain products. Sunlight is a natural source of this vitamin. Many kinds of cereal are specially fortified with vitamin D to help prevent rickets. Prevention of rickets is possible with a good healthy diet.

Childhood Blindness

One out of the main reasons for childhood blindness is the deficiency of vitamin A in children. The record shows that around 250,000 to 500,000 preschool-aged children with vitamin A become blind, and half of them die in 12 months. WHO declares it as a leading cause of blindness in children and pregnant women. Serum retinol (vitamin A) level of 0.7 mol/L or below indicates deficiency. Deficiency of vitamin A causes problems in the eyes, firstly the eye becomes dry, and then there are blisters on the cornea that cause permanent blindness. Before the manifestation of other systemic symptoms.

Vitamin A is vital for the synthesis of rhodopsin, and eye pigment is responsible for vision in low light conditions and helps eyes adjust with illumination.

Our body can not produce vitamin A, so we rely on dietary intake to maintain sufficient levels. Vitamin A is present in dairy products, eggs, and the liver. Some dark color vegetables have a vitamin A precursor, which can convert into vitamin A, but the level is insignificant; WHO states that childhood blindness is preventable by proper consumption of Vitamins.

Scurvy

Scurvy is caused by a deficiency of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Vitamin C is essential for the human body and helps in many functions. Due to its deficiency, many clinical symptoms appear. Our body can neither synthesize this vitamin nor store it for more than three months.

Children with scurvy have bone pain, loss of appetite, poor wound healing, weakness, petechiae, and ecchymosis. As vitamin C helps build collagen, it affects the overall body, especially gums becoming swollen and bleeding. In severe conditions, bones become swollen, tender, and bruised. Older children refuse to walk while infants may present pseudoparalysis.

Vitamin C is abundant in citrus fruits, berries, peppers, potatoes, and sprouts. Scurvy is preventable and treatable. Serum level of vitamin C must be maintained. Doctors recommend a daily dose of 25 mg/day in infants and children require 30-40 mg/day.

Wrapping Up

These are the main diseases that occur only due to vitamin deficiency. In our body, vitamins work with their partners called minerals. If both vitamins and minerals are deficient, they cause many serious problems such as iron deficiency anemia and epidemic goiter.

Many other vitamin deficiency diseases start during infancy and childhood, but their symptoms appear during adolescence; such diseases are usually due to vitamin B deficiency. They cause nervous problems and epilepsy-like symptoms in young adults. Another problem that arises from a deficiency of vitamin B-12 during gestational age leads to spina bifida, commonly known as the open back disease of kids.