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Parents today are very sophisticated with regard to quality, taste and efficacy for dietary supplements geared to children.
The market for childrenโs health has been faring much better than the adult market if we are to compare a 20 percent boost in kidsโ health vs. growth of only about 8 percent for adult health, according to SPINS, with gummies, liquids and chewable tablets attracting significant interest.
As far as product categories, multivitamins and biotics recently made up more than 80 percent of the kidsโ market, with growing interest in prebiotics and probiotics.
Looking at specific health areas, it could have been predicted that cold-and-flu formulas are flying off the shelvesโespecially for back-to-school and during the winter monthsโbut it might be surprising to some observers that childrenโs sleep supplements have increased by nearly 33 percent tied to a growing incidence of anxiety and stress.
As far as the biggest drivers of success for childrenโs supplements go, they include kidsโ needs and parentsโ expectations. These include such factors as: taste and palatability; efficacy; immunity; growth and development; clean-label products; and more.
A Question of Taste
Fortunately, parents no longer need to hold their kidsโ noses as they give them a tablespoon of unflavored cod-liver oil! For kids, taste reigns supreme.
โCompanies have caught on that if it doesnโt taste good, kids will push back on taking it, and parents donโt want to waste their money on products that their kids refuse to take,โ said Kristina Hall, president and owner of Wisconsin-based True Grace Health.
And itโs not just that kids are so picky by nature, there is some research to suggest that kids can often smell and taste flavors more intensely than do adults, which can really turn off the tykes if the flavor is unpleasant.
Ramona Billingslea, marketing & education manager for Spring, TX-based Betsyโs Health Foods, agrees that it all starts with taste. โWeโve gotten better at providing a pleasing dose of nutrients to kids of all ages without loading them up with too much sugar or unnecessary ingredients,โ she noted. Billingslea also welcomes the โless-cutesyโ kids products that are still more palatable yet not infantile in packaging or presentation.
Adrienne Benjamin, registered nutritionist and marketing manager, of South Wales, U.K.-based ProVen Probiotics, said that the requirements for palatability are not only driving taste but product formats, as well. The products today โtend to be heavily biased towards gummies, chewable tablets and powders, all of which need to be flavored.โ
โIn addition, evidence of safety and efficacy is required to help engender trust in products or brands designed to be given to children,โ Benjamin added.
According to Neil Levin, CCN, DANLA, senior nutrition education manager of Illinois-based NOW Foods, points to the companyโs NOW Kid Cal Chewables as being tasty chewable lozenges that are sugar-free with a โtasty tart orange flavor made from real fruit concentrateโ and which provide highly bioavailable calcium and magnesium citrates, vitamin D, vitamin K2 and vitamin A as beta-carotene.โ
A Need for Fun
Gummies are, without a doubt, a โfunโ delivery form, something which is most certainly not lost on young supplementers.
Not only that but, according to Benjamin, โgummies are one of the fastest growing delivery formats in the supplement space (over 6.5 percent CAGR),โ yet there can be challenges related to the high heat which is needed in the processing.
Dawn Jarvis, senior director of nutritional science & educational content, for Florida-based Garden of Life, is excited that the companyโs GOL KIDS gummies are in stock and on shelf in time for back to school.
In fact, Garden of Lifeโs Vitamin D3 gummies are, said Jarvis, a โclean and convenient way to give your kids 100 percent of the daily value for vitamin D in a small delicious, orange-flavored, sugar-free gummy,โ all with no artificial ingredients.
The companyโs GOL KIDS Immune Gummy is said to โdeliver whole-food vitamin C from organic amla berry, along with vitamin D3 and chelated zinc, all at 25 percent DV in two small delicious, easy-to-chew cherry gummies, again without any artificial ingredients or sugar.โ
โWe are always looking for new formats as long as they can allow us to give RDI of the actives,โ Levin pointed out. โTaste and format are important but quality and function also needed to meet our consumersโ expectations.โ
Support for Immunity
โProbiotics are particularly important in relation to the immune system and there are now significant levels of evidence that probiotics have an extraordinarily powerful effect in strengthening the immune system of young children, particularly with respect to prevention of coughs and coldsโin fact, it is now recognized that probiotics provide a much greater benefit than traditional nutrients such as vitamin C and zinc,โ said Benjamin.
โProVen Probiotics Fit for School product combines probiotics with both vitamins C and D,โ added Benjamin.
Jarvis noted that the โtop immune supporting ingredients for children are vitamins C, D and zinc; 16 years of NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) data have shown significant deficiencies in these nutrients.โ
The data show that 87 percent of U.S. children have inadequate intake of vitamin D. Fortunately, most parents know that vitamin D is important for kidsโ growing bones and immune health.
In addition, the microbiome connection is fortunately not lost on manufacturers, retailers or parents.
โWeโre seeing a lot of interest in NOW BerryDophilus, which has 2 billion CFUs from a combination of 10 carefully selected probiotic bacterial strains designed to support gastrointestinal health and healthy immune system function,โ said Levin.
โHealthy intestinal flora also help to create a favorable environment for the absorption of nutrientsโsweetened with xylitol, as BerryDophilus wonโt harm teeth and it tastes really good,โ Levin added. โWe also offer Extra-Strength BerryDophilus 10 billion CFUs, which is five times stronger than our regular strength BerryDophilus.โ
โNot only that, we also developed the NOW OralBiotic, which contain BLIS K12, a powerful strain of beneficial bacteria that has been clinically shown to support the maintenance of mouth, ear, nose and throat health in children,โ noted Levin.
โMost definitely, long gone are the days when probiotics were only given to kids after a course of antibiotics for earaches,โ noted Jarvis. โConsiderable scientific evidence exists to show that supporting a healthy microbiome is central not only to digestive health but is key to a healthy immune system, brain health and mood.โ
Jarvis added, โEmerging research suggests that a compromised microbiome, especially in kids, may be associated with poor immune health, some common allergies and autoimmune conditionsโagain, the message here is to give kids probiotics daily as a preventative measure rather than waiting until your child is constipated or sick.โ
According to Jarvis, Garden of Life launched a relatively new probiotics line, including an Advanced Pre + Probiotic Gummy for Kids.
โProbiotic gummies are usually produced with just a single probiotic strain, high in sugar and void of added beneficial ingredientsโGarden of Life has risen to the challenge to provide a high-quality probiotic gummy in an efficacious dose of 5 billion CFUs with multi-strains (four spore-forming probiotics) and FOS prebiotic fiber along with 800 IU (100 percent Daily Value) of vitamin D,โ added Jarvis.
Clean Ingredients Rule
โIf we are delivering whole-food nutrition to children for immune support, we should not also be including unhealthy ingredients, such as sugar, which can actually suppress immune function and cause both obesity and tooth decay,โ said Jarvis.
โPicky parents chose Garden of Life gummies because clean nutrition starts with Certified USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) Organic and Non-GMO (genetically modified organism) Verified Ingredients,โ added Jarvis.
โIn fact, Garden of Life has market research to show that parents are willing to pay for certain things when it comes to supplements for kids, including organic and non-GMO,โ noted Jarvis.VR
For More Information:
Garden of Life, www.gardenoflife.com
NOW Foods, www.nowfoods.com
ProVen Probiotics, https://provenprobiotics.co
True Grace Health, https://truegracehealth.com
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