Share the ways you get vitamins & minerals into your children with Noluma

[EllieMumsnet]

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We all know that vitamins and minerals are vital to the human body and help us grow, see properly, help make bones, muscles and organs stay healthy. However the difficult part is ensuring that you and your children have all the right vitamins and minerals in your system...especially with vitamin D, as we live in a fairly sun-deprived country . Therefore Noluma would love to know all the ways you ensure your children are getting all the vitamins and minerals they need.

Here’s what Noluma, the authority in light protection of packaging, has to say: “Scientific research shows that packaged goods can be negatively impacted when exposed to indoor lights such as retail lighting or LED lights in the kitchen. This causes the quality, freshness, flavour and more importantly, nutritional qualities to deteriorate. So if you think you are giving your children a glass of milk and getting those valuable nutrients into them this way, you might want to think again! Unless the milk bottle or carton comes in light protected packaging, chances are the product has degraded before it reaches the ‘use by’ date. This is especially true of see-through glass bottles. Here at Noluma, we are the only authority in light protection technology that certifies packaging using our patented state-of-the-art assessment process. We are uniquely able to measure all types of packaging for its ability to protect against damage due to both natural and artificial light, and to stop content change due to light exposure. Visit lightdamageisreal.co.uk to find out more”

Do you sneak vitamins filled fruit and veg into their meals? If so do you have any recipes or techniques you could share? Or maybe you don’t need to and your children are very good at eating lots of fruit and vegetables? Perhaps you like to make sure they’re outdoors as much as possible so they’re getting lots of great sunlight? Or maybe you know of some child-friendly vitamin supplements that help your children get all the nutrients they need?

Whatever your tips and tricks are for getting vitamins and minerals into your children, share them on the thread below and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

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Lots of different fruit and vegetables, introduced them to masses of different foods when they were really small. Never cooked kids meals and separate adult meals. Always ate the same and at the same time. No food is off limits, so no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food. Some days they eat sweet cereals for breakfast, some days omelette. Foraging for food including berries, going fishing and collecting mussels. Making jam and elderflower fizz. Letting them help with cooking. Letting them get messy and eat with their fingers, feeling the texture etc.

Balanced diet? Forget it, he's autistic, he'll only eat what he wants to eat.

If a company could produce a palatable, liquid (i.e. syringable) multi vitamin and mineral syrup, they'd make a fortune from the disability world. The current offerings taste disgusting and get spat out.

I always make sure that I eat what I want my son to eat. I will often set out lunches or fruit and veggies that we will share from a platter.

Giving them some fruits and julienning some vegetables with a dip helps children get thier vitamins & minerals. I usually give it as a snack in the afternoon when their energy levels can wane.

A good mix of food groups, fresh fruit and/or veg every meal. Plus a powdered multi-vitamin/probiotic mixed in with their morning squash.

Lots of cucumber and carrot sticks with hummous, tomatoes and fruit for snacks. Grow your own lettuce, french beans and courgettes sand get children involved with growing them - they taste better and children seem to like eating food they have grown themselves. I also give a chewy vitamin most days.

Plenty of easy to eat fruit, strawberries are so good this time of the year, blueberries, and vegetables I know they will eat, especially when using the spiralizer with mince (loaded with hidden vegetables)

My DD is fussy but devours the ice lollies I make her - they always contain at least one veg, chia seeds, hemp seeds, nut butters, flax milk and enough fruit to make it tasty. She actually knows exactly what’s in them, even if she won’t eat them in their non pulverised form - and has started asking for soups so she can use the veggies she doesn’t like made in a way she does. Very helpful if her!!

I don't hide fruit and veg, I encourage them to keep trying them and explain the importance of a balanced diet and food choices. We grow different fruit and veg and encourage them to try it so that they are getting the best they can. I also use the veg water for stock and gravies for an added boost.

We give lots of fruit and veg and I have hidden more veg in things like pasta sauces when my eldest was going through a fussy stage. Fruit purée also made ice lollies.

I also give a multi-vitamin every day and encourage as much outdoor active play as I can which can sometimes be tricky since we live in a flat.

We use the chewy vitamins.

I always serve at least 2 types of veg with dinner and try to vary it as much as possible - even got them to eat butterbeans yesterday (in a tomato & garlic sauce). My 2 children are both good eaters and eat a good balanced diet of meat, fish and eggs. We try to get them outside as much as possible - bike rides seem the most popular.

I give my son lots of fruit and lots of the veg he will eat. He also gets a multivitamin in his milk

My 5 year old is fussy with his food and eats barely any fruit and veg so we rely on daily multivitamins/minerals. We call it his growing sweet and have explained how it helps his body and brain develop.

@ijumpedaboadapirateship the ice lolly idea is great, I’ll try that over the summer. My kids are good generally with fruit and veg and also take a daily supplement.

My son is vegetarian and does need some persuasion to eat enough veg and fruit! He prefers fruit to veg and tends to only eat broccoli, carrot and sweetcorn veg wise. He has a vegetarian multi vitamin daily and gets plenty of fresh air as he loves being outside.

Multivitamins (Childlife, it's Gluten-free, casein-free, alcohol-free & no artificial colorings, flavorings or sweeteners) every day, variety of different vegetables with main meal, porridge every morning, trying to mix it, every morning different one (polenta, buckwheat, millet, etc.) and of course include berries in the breakfast and as a snack.

My ds hates vegetables. I give him plenty of fruit and a multivitamin and hope that he changes with age!

plenty of veg - even if it has to be hidden in other food at times! also certain supplements especially at times of year when kids need a bit of a boost.

Balanced home made meals, including vegetables, carbohydrates and protein, as well as fruit and nuts for extra vitamins and minerals.

My children have become a lot more adventurous with food but I supplement their diet with chewable vitamins.

ds became fussy after starting nursery and hearing other kids saying they didn't like certain foods. I pureed veggies and mixed into mince to make things like lasagne, burgers and meatloaf. I make sauces from scratch so started adding more pureed veg to those too and blending all soups with multiple veg til completely smooth. fruit was blended for smoothies or milkshakes. He's much older now and eats most things except onion but I can still sneak it in 😉

I encourage them to eat fresh food. Colourful salads and fruit salads always seem to go down well.

Daily multivitamin and a balanced diet with fruit or veg as part of every meal. I also encourage them to get involved with helping to make decisions about what to eat and why - at 7 and 9 they largely know what vitamins and minerals foods are rich in and why these vitamins and minerals are essential for the body.

DD gets a balanced diet and fortunately now she's 8 and not so fussy anymore she does eat most veg etc. I do give her a multi vitamin daily which includes 100 rda of vit D. I also ensure that where possible she has direct sun exposure to get vit D without sun screen the apply sun screen later. She's never been burnt and often stands out in the playground as the palest child 😂. She'd be described as alabaster in the old days.