Do Multivitamin/Mineral Dietary Supplements for Young Children Fill Critical Nutrient Gaps?

Nearly a third of young US children take multivitamin/mineral (MVM) dietary supplements, yet it is unclear how formulations compare with requirements.

Describe the number and amounts of micronutrients contained in MVMs for young children and compare suggested amounts on product labels to micronutrient requirements.

Cross-sectional.

All 288 MVMs on the market in the United States in the National Institutes of Health's Dietary Supplement Label Database in 2018 labeled for children 1 to <4 years old.

Number of MVM products and amounts per day of micronutrients in each product suggested on labels compared with requirements represented by age-appropriate Daily Values (DV). Micronutrients of public health concern identified by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) 2015-2020 (DGA 2015) and DGA 2020-2025 (DGA 2020) or those of concern for exceeding the upper tolerable intake levels.

Number of products and percent DV per day provided by each micronutrient in each product.

The 288 MVMs contained a mean of 10.1 ± 2.27 vitamins and 4.59 ± 2.27 minerals. The most common were, in rank order, vitamins C, A, D, E, B₆, B₁₂; zinc, biotin, pantothenic acid, iodine, and folic acid. For micronutrients denoted by the DGA 2015 and DGA 2020 of public health concern, 56% of the 281 products containing vitamin D, 4% of the 144 with calcium, and none of the 60 containing potassium provided at least half of the DV. The upper tolerable intake level was exceeded by 49% of 197 products with folic acid, 17% of 283 with vitamin A, and 14% of 264 with zinc. Most MVMs contained many of 16 other vitamins and minerals identified in national surveys as already abundant in children's diets.

A reexamination of the amounts and types of micronutrients in MVMs might consider formulations that better fill critical gaps in intakes and avoid excess.