What are the Best Vitamins for Teenager?

As children grow up, their bodies go through dramatic physical changes that require a wide variety of vitamins and minerals.

However, many teenagers don’t get all the nutrients they need from diet alone, so you may be considering supplementing vitamins for teens.

Teenagers aren’t renowned for being the healthiest group out there, so should they be using vitamin supplements, and what are the best Vitamins for Teenager?

As a parent, you want to ensure that your child is getting all the nutrients they need – especially during puberty – but it can be hard to judge what vitamins and minerals your teenage children need. If your child has an underlying medical condition, poor appetite, or restricted diet (such as vegetarianism or veganism), they should take vitamin supplements, but could all teenagers benefit?

While teenagers are often stereotyped as eating unhealthy foods or skipping meals, they aren’t inherently any more or less healthy than other age groups, so are teenage multivitamins necessary? During puberty, your body needs more energy and nutrients, so are vitamin supplements a good way to fuel these physical changes, and what are the risks of these products?

Can Teens Take Vitamins?

Of course: most vitamin supplements are completely safe – as long as you stick to the recommended dosages – for children, teenagers and adults alike. However, it’s important to consider the vitamins you already get through your diet before searching for the best vitamins for teenagers, as you can get too much of a good thing.

One of the main risks in taking vitamin supplements is exceeding the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI), as excess levels of some vitamins (such as vitamin D) can be toxic. We recommend doing plenty of research and consulting a doctor to find the right supplements for your nutritional needs, and being careful not to exceed the recommended dose.

At what age should you start taking multivitamins?

There aren’t any hard rules on when you should start taking vitamins, though many paediatricians recommend giving supplements with vitamins A, C and D to children aged 6 months to 5 years. After infancy, the most important part of a child’s development is puberty, so you should focus on giving your children the best vitamins for teen girls or boys around the age of 8-14.

When choosing the right supplements for your child, you should consider the vitamin contents, dosage strength and delivery method to find the best product for their needs. Additionally, you should find supplements that are easy to take and not unpleasant for your child, as anyone can tell you how hard it is to make a teenager stick to a routine they really don’t want to.

Honorable Mentions – Minerals:

Now we know that minerals don’t fall under the purview of ‘the Best Vitamins for Teenagers’, but we really couldn’t ignore these essential minerals, as they are just as important for the physical development of your children.

Tips on Choosing The Best Vitamins for Teenagers

Every kid is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to nutrition, so you should always shop around and read the label to find the best blend of nutrients for your needs. Additionally, you should always get professional advice before starting a new supplement regime to make sure you’re getting the nutrients you need and in the right amounts.

We strongly recommend searching for a product containing the RDI of the vitamins and minerals listed above, but feel free to omit or add any nutrients you – or your family doctor – feel necessary. Furthermore, you should stay away from high-strength vitamins for teens, as more isn’t always better – taking too many vitamins can be just as bad as taking too little – so try and find supplements that provide the RDI of each active ingredient.

How many vitamins does a teenager need per day?

Teenagers need a lot of nutrients to support their developing bodies, and while we put a lot of focus on a balanced diet – with plenty of vegetables, protein, fiber, etc. – it’s a lot harder to measure the right amounts of vitamins for teen boys and girls. Thankfully, nutritional scientists have worked hard to answer those questions, and the experts at the National Institutes for Health recommend that teenagers eat the following amounts of essential vitamins and minerals:

• Vitamin A: 700-900mcg
• Vitamin C: 65-75mg
• Vitamin D: 15mcg
• Vitamin E: 15mg
• B Complex Vitamins:
  1. Vitamin B1: 1-1.2mg
  2. Vitamin B2: 1-1.3mg
  3. Vitamin B3: 12-16mg
  4. Vitamin B6: 1-1.2mg
  5. Vitamin B9: 300-400 mcg
  6. Vitamin B12: 2.4mcg
• Calcium: 1,300mg
• Iron: 8-15mg
• Magnesium: 240-410mg
• Potassium: 2,300-3,000mg
• Zinc: 8-11mg

Best Vitamins For Teenagers & Teens

When it comes to boosting the vitamin levels of teenagers and teens, giving them fresh fruit isn’t going to cut it – you need help, and multivitamins are the easiest way to get more nutrients in you, so let’s start there. Although it’s easy to assume that multivitamins are ideal all-rounders for boosting your intake of essential nutrients, they are carefully tailored to the dietary needs of different groups, and the best vitamins for teen girls will look a lot different to ones for adult men.

With that in mind, you should look for supplements that are rich in active ingredients (ideally around the RDI for each nutrient), manufactured by a trustworthy brand and tailored to your child’s health needs. In short, the best supplements for teens are specially formulated with the growing dietary needs of teenagers in mind and should contain most (if not all) of the essential nutrients we’ve highlighted above.