Department of Health Sciences, Lehman College of the City University of New York, Bronx, NY, USA.
Department of Public Health, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ, USA.
Nutr Health. 2023 Dec;29(4):715-720. doi: 10.1177/02601060221100926. Epub 2022 May 11.
Voluntary and mandatory fortification of pediatric foods, along with widespread consumption of dietary supplements have resulted in an increased proportion of children with excessive micronutrient intake.
This study aimed to analyze the proportion of pediatric dietary supplements that exceed the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and Tolerable Upper Limit for the individual micronutrients. We further identified the proportion of supplements with large amounts of micronutrients that were marketed through child-friendly and parent-geared promotional language and graphics on the packaging.
The nutrient facts label on pediatric supplement packages sold by three large retail pharmacy chains was analyzed for micronutrient content. Labels were examined for the presence of trademarked or generic cartoon characters and parent-geared health promotional statements.
More than a third and almost a fifth of the samples contained vitamin A and niacin respectively in amounts equivalent to or above the established tolerable upper limit for one- to three-year-old children. A major proportion of these supplements had child-friendly and parent-targeted promotional language on the package.
The potential for pediatric supplements as a source for excessive micronutrient consumption underscores the need for parents and health care professionals to use nutrition labels as a valuable tool to prevent micronutrient toxicity.
儿科食品的自愿和强制强化，以及膳食补充剂的广泛消费，导致摄入过多微量营养素的儿童比例增加。
本研究旨在分析超过推荐膳食允许量（RDA）和个体微量营养素可耐受上限的儿科膳食补充剂的比例。我们还确定了大量微量营养素补充剂的比例，这些补充剂通过包装上针对儿童友好和父母导向的促销语言和图形进行营销。
分析了三大零售连锁药店销售的儿科补充剂包装上的营养成分标签，以了解微量营养素的含量。标签上检查了是否有商标或通用的卡通人物以及针对父母的健康促销声明。
超过三分之一和近五分之一的样本分别含有相当于或高于一至三岁儿童可耐受上限的维生素 A 和烟酸。这些补充剂中有很大一部分在包装上使用了针对儿童和父母的促销语言。
儿科补充剂作为过量微量营养素摄入的来源，这突出表明父母和医疗保健专业人员需要将营养标签作为预防微量营养素毒性的有用工具。
