Family Focus: Don’t Forget Your Vitamins!

I am excited to start a new blog series on What’s Up, USANA? about children and family, called “Family Focus.” I’m hoping that together, we can find ways our families can improve and grow in living a more healthy USANA lifestyle. Being a single mom over the past seven years, I can use all the help I can get!

BiOmega Jr Lifestyle 003One of the things we have struggled with in our family is remembering to take our vitamins. If your kids are anything like mine, they tend to be on the picky side of eating, so I know they’re not getting the nutrition they need every day.  “It’s vital that growing children have proper micro- and macro-nutrition each day,” says John Bosse, USANA senior scientist of product innovation and a registered dietitian. “As a child, micro-nutrition is truly laying the foundation for health in adulthood.”

Serious stuff, right?

So, I decided to try a few things to get us on the right path to nutritional health — and found great success! Hopefully these easy tips will help your family, too:

1.    Make it a Habit: “It doesn’t matter whether you choose morning or evening to take your vitamins, as long as you do it,” Bosse says. However, for my family, evenings are easiest because mornings are hectic and bedtime is more routine. I just throw our vitamin regimen in between bathing and teeth brushing, and we are set.

BiOmega Jr Lifestyle 0302.    Make it Fun: By earning a sticker every time he takes his vitamins, my 7-year-old is excited about taking Usanimals™ . Once he collects 30 stickers, he’ll win a trip to the dollar store. For my teenager, she thought it would be cool to pick out her favorite nail polish (the cheap kind, of course!) at the end of the month by taking  Body Rox™ each day. As for your kids, find something simple that motivates them — without breaking the bank.

3.    Make it Appealing: My son cringes at the thought of putting something in his mouth he may not like. Instead of fighting him to take his vitamins, I take Bosse’s advice, “If you can find a food or drink your children will consistently take with their vitamins, roll with it.” My picky boy doesn’t mind taking his BiOmega™ Jr. with his favorite bedtime snack.

4.    Make it Quality: Whenever we go to the store, my kids want me to buy the supplements that look fun — with exciting shapes, gummy textures and loads of sugar — but I always stick with USANA supplements, because I never have to worry. Pediatrician and USANA Scientific Advisory Council member, Christine Wood, highly recommends USANA vitamins to her patients because she trusts what’s in them. You, too, can be assured knowing USANA manufactures its products in an FDA registered facility, is NSF certified, and follows the FDA’s highest possible standards for manufacturing.

Biomega_group_MG_9869-2_ko copy-S5.    Make it Count: It’s best to check with your doctor to see if additional supplements are recommended for you and your children’s daily regimen, because every person’s needs are different, and some kids are more picky than others (mine). “Vitamin D deficiency is turning out to be a common deficiency among children and adults, along with calcium. Both are important for bone health,” Dr. Wood says.

I’d love to get your input as to what has worked best in getting your stubborn children (or significant others) to take their vitamins. Please leave your comments below and I’ll talk to you soon!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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6 replies
  1. Rosemary
    Rosemary says:

    I asked my boys pediatrician about supplements just to see what they would say and sadly they said ” they get all they need from their food ” knowing this is NOT true I fired back sarcastically o sure there is a lot of nutrients in chicken nuggets and pizza. Lol Not that I only feed my boys junk but let’s face it it is really hard to get kids to eat a variety of vegetables. When will ALL medical drs get on board with prevention and supplementation? O that’s rt they are Doctors of medicine! We need to remember that. There are some who have taken it upon themselves to educate themselves on nutrition and boy do I appreciate that small percent . I also had a doctor tell me supplements don’t do anything . That is because most of them don’t . Not all supplements are created equally . This doctor obviously has not heard of Usana. It is up to us people to stand up to the DRS respectfully and tell them about Usana. It can be intimidating but just think if you can change one mind it could change a ton of lives!! Good luck!!

    Reply
  2. Mallory Moger
    Mallory Moger says:

    Misty this is fantastic advice! For years my sisters have been struggling to get their kids to take their vitamins daily. I think your idea of an easy (and inexpensive) award system is brilliant! Make them earn that nail polish or dollar toy and hopefully taking their daily vitamins becomes a habit. Thanks for the tips. 🙂

    Reply

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