Know The Nutrients Your Kids Need With This Helpful Guide
We all wonder if our toddler is getting everything they need to grow up strong, healthy and vegan. We’ve decided to put together a little list to help you get a better understanding the nutrients that your kids need.
Some of the important vitamins and minerals that you should be paying attention to with your little 1-3 year old’s vegan diet include the following:
The Nutrients Your Kids Need
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Calcium
Your toddler needs to get about 500 mg per day of calcium. No, that doesn’t mean they need to be drinking cow’s milk. If this isn’t met everyday, it’s fine. As long as they average out during the week 500 mg/day. This means that if they only get 450 mg today, tomorrow they can get 550 mg and it will average out.
Tofu made with calcium sulfate and fortified plant-based milks are a great source of calcium and is generally well-absorbed. We absorb the calcium from turnips, broccoli, kale and mustard greens very well because they are low in oxalates. Collard greens are also considered to be a good source of calcium. Legumes, nuts and seeds have moderate amounts of calcium that become more easily absorbable after soaking in water.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is made by the body and activated by the sun (UV B rays). However, daily sun exposure is not practicable, possible, or recommended for every one.
Vegan toddlers that get little to no sun exposure should probably be getting 600 IU of vitamin D2 or vegan D3 per day. There are presentations of them that make their administration very easy, even for the most stubborn two year olds.
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Iron
From ages 1-3, the nutrients your kids need as toddlers need to be about 7 mg/day. Great sources of non-heme iron include beans and green vegetables. To help your little one absorb more of what they eat, incorporate these iron-rich foods into their diet together with vitamin C.
Vitamin C
Toddlers need to get about 15 mg of vitamin C. This is very easy to do because fruits and vegetables are so rich in this nutrient. Deficiencies are very rare and scurvy has not been a common ailment since the
Iodine
Until the age of 8, little ones need to be getting about 90 mcg of iodine daily for proper thyroid function. You can achieve this by incorporating sea vegetables into their diet such as nori sheets or kelp. Although the amount of kelp required would be a very tiny amount each day.
A diet without any salt at all is recommended for children. If your family does use salt, it’s recommend to use iodized salt instead of sea salt or pink Himalayan salt which do not have iodine. They also do not have any scientifically proven advantages over iodized salt.
B12
All vegans need to supplement their diet with vitamin B12. Toddlers need a minuscule amount of 0.9 mcg per day. You can get this with nutritional yeast, fortified plant-based milk, mock meats, or through vitamin drops or tablets.
Some vegans seem to think they or their children do not need vitamin B12 in their diet. We recommend you not make this mistake. Please make sure your child gets enough B12 to prevent a deficiency.
Have more to add to the nutrients your kids need? Let us know in the comments.
