Kids and Vitamins

When I was a kid, I have no memory of ever taking vitamins. I don’t know if it’s simply because my Mom did such a good job of feeding us a balanced diet (lots of veggies, 95% of our meals at home) but nowadays it seems like not only are us adults a bit vitamin deficient (I take a multivitamin every day and can tell when I miss a few days) but it also seems like our children are a bit deficient in the vitamin and mineral side too.

There are tons of different kid friendly ways to take vitamins, of course, ranging from gummy vitamins to more traditional tablets in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. It can still be a hassle for them to have the vitamins on a daily basis, though, and some are rather a ridiculous dose too: I have a container of gummy vitamins where it requires four for a kid to get a full daily allotment. Four? Are we giving them a handful of sweets?

Enter Emergen-C, convenient packets of powder that mixes into water and not only makes the water taste much better but also packs a full daily recommended allowance of all the major vitamins too. Easy, fast, tasty, and convenient.

In fact, my kids like Emergen-C so much that they’ll often grab a packet to have with lunch instead of just plain water. They mix it up — and these work really well in water bottles too! — and have a bottle of grape water, fruit punch water, etc, instead of plain old water.

When I was invited to have my kids try out some newly formulated flavors (Orange, Grape, Fruit Punch), I knew it was a good match because my three kids are already fans, so we signed up and got the boxes in the mail a week later.

Since then I’ve not told them it’s a taste test or anything (they’re used to us getting cool stuff in the mail, I have to admit) and just watched which flavor they prefer. Fruit Punch is the clear winner at this point for both my 11yo son and my 7yo daughter. The teenager? She’s been on a class trip so hasn’t been a guinea pig under the hidden magnifying lens. Yet.

Emergen-C is not just a good approach to getting your kids — or you! — to have your daily vitamins, it’s also a savvy corporation that does smart promotions. Tied with the launch of these new flavors, for example, is their Emergen-C Kidz Pledge too, which explains that they’re paired with a very cool non-profit that I was already aware of called Vitamin Angels:

“One Box Can Help Save a Life: For every box of Emergen-C Kidz® sold, we will donate 25 cents to Vitamin Angels, to provide essential nutrients to one child for one year, helping reduce childhood mortality worldwide. For every pledge, we will donate an additional 25 cents† to Vitamin Angels, which means your commitment to your family’s health and wellness can help save a life too!”

So far they’ve raised $4,168 for this important charity. It’s a win:win: your children can have their vitamins in a super easy form and you can help raise money for a good non-profit. Take the pledge (on their Facebook page, link above) and they’ll contribute another $0.25 to the cause, or be inspired and not only get some free samples but also donate a few dollars to Vitamin Angels directly. It’s all good.

And as for us? We’ll undoubtedly race through the box of Fruit Punch Emergen-C for Kidz and be heading to the store soon to replenish it. One packet a day = better health, less illness and days missed at school = a very beneficial outcome.

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