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

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

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

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: 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.

Main outcome measures: 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.

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

Results: 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.

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