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Children’s Health Grows Up

| September 1, 2022

Children's Health

Panelists:

Adrienne Benjamin, Marketing Manager, ProVen Probiotics, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, U.K., https://provenprobiotics.co

Ramona Billingslea, Marketing Manager, Betsy’s Health Foods, Spring, TX, https://betsyhealth.com

Dawn Jarvis, Senior Director Nutrition Science and Education Content, Garden of Life, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, www.gardenoflife.com

Neil Levin, CCN, DANLA, Senior Nutrition Education Manager, NOW Foods, Bloomingdale, IL, www.nowfoods.com

Trisha Sugarek MacDonald, BS, MS, Senior Director of Research & Development/National Educator, Bluebonnet Nutrition, Corporation, Sugar Land, TX, https://bluebonnetnutrition.com

Vicky Mak, Technical Writer, ChildLife Essentials, El Segundo, CA, https://childlifenutrition.com

Marge Roman, Manager, Stay Healthy!, Las Vegas, NV, www.stayhealthylasvegas.com

The children’s health category has evolved quite a bit since 1968, when Miles Laboratories introduced the wildly popular Flintstones vitamins. Gone are the days of horse tablets loaded with artificial colors and flavors. Manufacturers and retailers are increasingly offering a range of children’s health supplements geared to multiple health areas—from immunity to cognitive health, from bone health to digestive health, and more—and featuring a range of ingredients over and above the basics, including (but not limited to) omega-3s, calcium, vitamin K2, probiotics, elderberry, echinacea and more.

Here to help us take a look through our virtual ViewMaster at where the children’s health category is right now is a panel of dietary supplement industry experts.

VR: How would you describe the state of the market for children’s health supplements?

Sugarek MacDonald: The impact of COVID-19 on children extends well beyond viral infection, with public health implications that could have life-long consequences. This is because in the post-COVID world, children’s diets are still being disrupted. Even if many have returned to in-person classrooms, the groundwork for ravaged routines has been set.

Unfortunately, with routines being challenged, few children manage to eat a full range of nutritious foods every day like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish. Add in the snacking of sugar-laden foods combined with getting less exercise and additional screen time, nutritional disaster has been noticeable. This has led many manufacturers to create products that consumers seek to maximize their health and boost their immunity while providing effective, nutritious and safe formulations the whole family will love.

Billingslea: We could use more targeted formulas for every age group, not just toddlers. Even if there isn’t much difference in the formulas, having labels that show the product can be helpful for a specific age group really helps parents feel more comfortable with purchasing products.

Finding the right method of delivery is another challenge in children’s health supplements. Gummies that can taste good without a high sugar content, liquid formulas, and smaller capsules that kiddos might swallow are all challenges formulators must overcome.

We are limited in our children’s health supplement choices because we must choose manufacturing partners who support small retailers through aggressive MAP policies.

Our private-label products for kids have several liquids, but could offer more targeted, age-specific formulas. Is there a strong enough demand to warrant the manufacturer placing resources into such products? I don’t know.

Mak: Over the past few years, the pandemic has made parents more concerned and informed about protecting their children’s immune system and overall health. Not only is the current state of the children’s health supplement market expanding, but immune support also continues to reign as a popular segment within the market. Parental interest in multivitamins as well as products for specific areas of health, such as immune health, cognitive health and digestive health, is growing. Parents are searching for effective solutions to help boost all aspects of their children’s growth and development, which can be vulnerable to environmental stressors brought on by the pandemic.

Benjamin: The marketplace for children’s health supplements has grown steadily over the past 10 years and there are now a vast number of supplement options available for children in a variety of formats and formulations.

Parents are increasingly more aware of the need for supplements to support diet and understand their role in preventative health, although the variety and range of supplements and available information can lead to confusion about which supplements are best for children of different ages.

There are certain types of supplements with significant evidence of specific benefits for children—multivitamins for all children, omega-3 supplements for ages 1-7 for brain development and behavior regulation, and probiotics for strengthening the immune system, particularly in relation to coughs and colds.

Levin: We have seen a continued interest in immune support products for children that began early in the pandemic. Since children have returned to the classroom and COVID is still circulating, many parents prioritize their children’s immune health with supplements including vitamin C, vitamin D, probiotics and herbal products like echinacea. The NOW Kids line includes many of these products in a variety of forms including great-tasting, sugar-free liquids and chewables.

VR: What ingredient is doing extremely well in this category, or surprisingly poorly, if applicable, and why?

Levin: The only ingredient we’ve seen a real dip in is elderberry, but not just in our kids’ line. It spiked during the first year of the COVID pandemic but has since decreased in popularity across the whole line from kid’s SKUs to adults. There are so many options out there it wasn’t surprising that with all the new immune support products on the market we saw a dip in other SKUs. And the industry saw much discussion of elderberry adulteration as demand soared, so that may have been a factor.

Mak: Within the children’s health category, omega-3 fatty acids are becoming popular ingredients due to their potential impact on various health aspects, like cognitive health and digestive health. Increasing scientific evidence has shown that omega-3 fatty acids interact with the gut-brain axis, influencing both intellectual development and gut microbial composition. Several studies among infants and children have consistently demonstrated that supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA, can improve cognitive measures and visual function. Consuming both omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA can directly alter and balance gut microbiota, potentially improving intestinal health and function in early life.

Parents are growing more aware of these benefits for their children’s cognitive and gut development and, therefore, are taking major steps to supplement their children’s diets with omega-3 fatty acids whenever necessary.

Benjamin: Probiotics 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 colds. In fact, it is now recognized that probiotics provide a much greater benefit than the traditional nutrients such as vitamin C and zinc.

Billingslea: Looking over our sales of the last few months, I’m surprised that our D3 for kids isn’t selling more. I think that has to do with a lack of understanding on how important D3 levels are to overall health, and that’s on us.

Acidophilus and multivitamins are selling okay, but I would like to see more movement for these products as well.

I’m not sure how many teenagers are using lower doses of some of our adult vitamins instead of the kid-specific formulas, so that can throw off the numbers as far as how well products are doing for kids. Because of the overall makeup of our customers, kids’ products have never been really large sellers for us.

Roman: Vitamin D is the strongest. Living in Las Vegas many parents don’t think children could lack D, but surprisingly they do.

VR: What is the single-biggest problem or challenge facing manufacturers or retailers regarding children’s health supplements?

Billingslea: Mainly, we retailers face two challenges. One is people seeing the need or urgency for health supplements when it comes to children. I have a gut feeling many people think a Flintstones vitamin will do. The second issue is selection due to manufacturing partner limits and the variety or lack thereof for manufacturers you can choose to safely partner with.

Mak: The biggest challenge manufacturers may face is developing a product that appeals to kids’ palates without compromising nutritional content.

Children can be especially picky about the things they eat—in fact, according to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, 35 percent of parents report that their children have picky eating. If a dietary supplement turns out to have poor taste quality yet high nutritional value, chances are that kids would avoid consuming it. However, if the dietary supplement has great taste but low nutritional quality, then parents may not be interested in purchasing the supplement at all.

Manufacturers must consider many factors that can influence a product’s appeal to both parents and children. These factors include the delivery format, texture, flavor, consistency, visual and even packaging of the product. Each factor could impact whether it takes one or several attempts to successfully make the final product. Therefore, it’s important that manufacturers formulate dietary supplements that suit children’s tastes as well as their nutritional needs.

Roman: I think the biggest challenge is delivery of nutrients. Getting enough nutrients into a chewable is difficult—balancing sweeteners with nutrients.

Benjamin: There are a number of inconveniences rather than challenges in relation to children’s health supplements for the following reasons:

• Children below 4 years of age can’t take capsules, tablets or soft gels due to choking hazard and, as a result, supplements for children need to be of a different format.

• Children’s supplements need to be palatable and therefore tend to be heavily biased towards gummies, chewable tablets and powders, all of which need to be flavored. A lot of the nutrients used in tablets and capsules can’t be used in children’s products because they are unpalatable, for example, antioxidants like quercetin and even iron.

As a result, it can be difficult to find a balance between palatability and choice of ingredients when manufacturing and selling supplements for children. In addition, evidence of safety and efficacy is required to help engender trust in products or brands designed to be given to children. ProVen Probiotics’ baby and child products are supported by clinical trials in which the products themselves were used in comparison with placebo. This clinical research supports the specific benefits of the individual products and provides evidence of safety.

Sugarek MacDonald: Safety and taste are by far the most important considerations when developing children’s health products. Focusing on these key selling points can be beneficial and will most definitely catch a parent’s attention. Because many children are picky eaters, it is important to make great-tasting products they will love to take daily. If they do not like it, they will not take it! Just ask any mom.

Furthermore, behind the scenes, it is even more critical that the products are formulated to be safe and effective. This is a no-brainer but should be mentioned, nonetheless.

Another way to create safer products that will attract a mom’s attention is to focus on clean label initiatives like kosher, allergen-free, non-GMO (genetically modified organism), and free of artificially derived flavors, colors and sweeteners. Certifications and clean label initiatives such as these can also help to ease parents’ minds, knowing their children are getting the safest nutrition possible.

VR: There are different state bills supposedly aimed at protecting kids from supplements, including one in Rhode Island that would put most supplements behind the counter. What is going on in these states?

Levin: There are misguided attempts in some state legislatures to prohibit sales of supplements, or certain diet-related supplements, to children. This is primarily due to a concern that teens may be using supplements for extreme dieting fads. However, it is unproven speculation.

It seems unlikely that teenagers would consider using many of the products that would be restricted by such a broad description of the intended product categories that could include such benign items such as lecithin, protein powders and fiber, which make claims to help with bodybuilding, weight-management and satiety.

Fortunately, the Rhode Island bill did not make it through the legislature, though it passed one chamber. This bill is not thought to be in position to pass this session, which would require it to start over next year. It would make more sense to target specific problematic ingredients to discourage their use by teens, rather than broad categories of uncontroversial products or even all dietary supplements.

Mak: The bills passed in California, New York, and most recently Rhode Island, prohibit the sale of certain dietary supplements to minors. These dietary supplements are marketed for weight loss. There has been general concern about the detrimental effects of OTC (over-the-counter) diet pills and weight-loss supplements and how they pose serious health risks to young consumers.

Considering that body image and eating disorders are frequent issues among adolescents in the U.S., supporters of the bills asserted that these weight-loss supplements could dangerously affect the physical health of minors. The CDC (Center for Diseases Control and Prevention) was mentioned to have estimated that 23,000 Americans are sent to emergency rooms every year due to supplements, with a quarter due to the weight-loss category alone.

Opponents of these bills argued that there is no credible science that links weight-loss products to body dysmorphia and eating disorders. According to the opponents, these bills that require stores and pharmacies to enforce limited access of these supplements may reduce time devoted to patient care. Roman: Kids don’t usually buy supplements. These bills seem to refer to diet and sports supplements, many of which are ill-advised for young kids.

VR: Talk about the recent headlines about a supposed melatonin poisoning epidemic in kids–what’s going on here?

Levin: NOW doesn’t offer a melatonin product in our kid’s line of supplements.

Upon review of the data, the increase in poison control center inquiries about melatonin seems to be primarily related to two factors: toddlers getting hold of candy-like gummies that are not kept out of reach and teens trying to overcompensate for stress and poor sleeping habits. An additional factor is that some parents overmedicate their very young children.

The vast majority of such reports are resolved without serious harm to the children, and the two deaths reported over a period of years involved one child who was given the melatonin by a parent and another who apparently accessed the product and was able to consume it without supervision.

The number of such serious reports is tiny compared to typical numbers of allergic reactions to foods or food poisoning. In general parents should be concerned about unsupervised access of any supplement or medication by preschool children and poor judgment by some sleep-deprived teens who ignore label dosing and cautions. Though some were hospitalized for observation or treatment, there seemed to be relatively little risk of serious harm to the teens in these reports, especially when looking at how rare the reports are compared to how many doses are used.

VR: What about vitamin K2 and bone health; dairy-avoiding parents may well need to consider supplementing their kids with vitamin K2 and calcium, correct? Please elaborate.

Benjamin: The recommendations for supplementation of these nutrients will vary depending on the age of the child. As dairy products are a major source of calcium and vitamin K2 for young children up to around 12-13 years of age and, if a child avoids dairy during this time there may be a need for supplementation.

We would recommend considering vitamin D alongside vitamin K2 and calcium, as all three work synergistically together and are thus found alongside each other in dairy and other foods. Vitamin D can be compensated for by exposure to the sun, although this may not be possible in more northerly latitudes, particularly in the autumn and winter months.

Billingslea: I think all kids these days need basic supplement support, just like us adults. They, too, are eating food with inferior nutrients, fighting toxin exposure and chronic stress. [Kids also need] minerals like calcium and magnesium. And since we now know more than ever how important the balance of vitamins and minerals is, D3, K2, calcium, magnesium and more could be a benefit beginning when we are children. We can no longer wait until adulthood to worry about nutrient gaps.

Levin: It is well known that childhood is a crucial time for bone growth, so calcium is very important, and magnesium should be delivered with calcium. The recommended amount for children from 4 to 13 years old is 1,300 mg per day. Everyone knows calcium is essential in developing strong bones and teeth, but calcium is also important for the proper function of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and for cognitive health. Calcium helps with normal blood coagulation as well. Calcium is stored in the bones for many years, and those bones function as reservoirs that our body can tap into if we’re not getting enough from our diet.

That’s another reason why it’s so important for kids to get enough calcium; not only to build strong bones, but to build up a reserve that the body can fall back on throughout life. Adding vitamin K2 makes sense as research identified the role of K2 in guiding the calcium to the bones.

NOW Kid-Cal has the nutrients a growing skeleton needs, including highly bioavailable calcium and magnesium citrates, vitamin D, and vitamin A as beta-carotene. Kid-Cal is sugar-free, and its tasty tart orange flavor is made from real fruit concentrate. Adding vitamin K2 makes sense as research identified the role of K2 in guiding the calcium to the bones.

Sugarek MacDonald: Parents are looking for functional products that boost their children’s immunity and everyday wellness with clean label ingredients. Food jags, eating on the run, poor food choices, and a bombardment of advertising that teaches kids to eat all the wrong foods, taking a multivitamin and mineral formula acts as an insurance policy to make sure each child gets all the essential vitamins and minerals needed for optimal growth and development.

Bluebonnet’s Rainforest Animalz Whole-Food Based Multiple [features vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium and probiotics and delivers] a kosher-certified, gluten-free comprehensive array of the essential micronutrients kids need daily with extra nutritional support to meet their growth and developmental, immune, gut and bone health needs. As an added bonus, the nutritional scientists at Bluebonnet snuck in all those healthy super fruits (e.g., acai, acerola, apple, bilberry, blueberry, cherry, cranberry, goji, grape, orange, papaya, pineapple, prune, raspberry, and strawberry fruits, grape seed, and raspberry seed) and vegetables (e.g., broccoli, broccoli sprouts, brussels sprouts, carrot, kale, onion, spinach, tomatoes) that kids will love in most of these formulas.

Mak: Vitamin K is a micronutrient important for regulating cell division and differentiation and bone mineralization. Vitamin K2 is a type of vitamin K that supports healthy bone metabolism via the activation of osteocalcin proteins. A 2009 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that vitamin K2 improved osteocalcin activation among healthy girls compared to the placebo, suggesting benefits for promoting bone health in children.

Calcium is another well-known essential mineral that encourages optimal bone function in children. While dairy products are the best sources of calcium, parents may choose to avoid dairy in their children’s diets for various reasons, either health-related or by personal preference. Instead, non-dairy supplements can be a great option for these concerned parents.

To provide that extra nutritional support kids need for proper bone development, parents should strongly consider supplementing with, not only calcium, but also vitamin K2. Products that combine both calcium and vitamin K2 allow children to readily obtain the benefits of both nutrients within a single serving.

VR: Back to school also means back to the colds and sniffles. What immune boosting ingredients, combinations or finished products are becoming extremely popular, and why?

Jarvis: The top immune supporting ingredients for children are vitamins C, D and zinc. Sixteen years of NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ) data have shown significant deficiencies in these nutrients.

For example, the data show that 87 percent of U.S. children have inadequate intake of vitamin D. Most parents know that vitamin D is important for kids growing bones and immune health, and they are justifiably concerned that their kids are not eating enough of the foods which are good sources of natural vitamin D such as oily fish, like sardines and mackerel, and mushrooms. Evidently fortified foods are not helping to remedy poor intake either.

During the pandemic, and especially now as kids go back to school, we experience demands for supplements of these key immune supporting nutrients. Combinations of vitamins C and D with zinc are popular because they each support components of the immune system, which together provide comprehensive immune support. Ideally we should be giving kids immune-supporting nutrients as daily prevention versus waiting until Johnny or Suzie already has the sniffles!

Benjamin: Probiotics are now known to be the No. 1 nutrient for supporting the immune system, followed by vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc. ProVen Probiotics Fit for School product combines probiotics with both vitamins C and D.

Billingslea: Our children’s acidophilus and chewable vitamin C always do well. Since we especially want to approach children’s health with caution, we often turn to homeopathic remedies for them.

Mak: There has been consistent demand among parents for dietary supplements that support their children’s immune system, especially since kids are returning to schools and encountering germs regularly. Parents are turning to products that contain well-known, immune-boosting vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc, and even traditional herbal ingredients rich in antioxidants, like elderberry.

Studies have shown that vitamin C and D are essential nutrients necessary for modulating the immune response and that zinc is important for the functioning of immune cells. Elderberry has also demonstrated the ability to reduce upper respiratory symptom severity and total duration, providing immune support. Children’s supplements formulated with probiotics are also becoming popular among consumers due to growing clinical research establishing the role of the gut microbiome in promoting immune health.

VR: Nobody likes horse pills, and this is most true when talking about kids. Are gummies going wild, and are there some other advances in size of capsules or delivery forms that we need to be aware of? Please elaborate.

Levin: We primarily offer chewables and liquids in our NOW Kids line. We’ve formulated them to taste good and have less sugar than “typical” children’s gummies do. We are always looking for new formats as long as they can allow us to give RDI (recommeneded daily intake) of the actives. Taste and format are important but quality and function need to meet our consumers’ expectations.

Mak: While the gummy format continues to be very popular among kids due to its similar appeal with gummy candies, quick dissolve powder packets are recently emerging as a promising delivery method in the children’s health supplement market.

Unlike conventional pills and tablets, quick dissolve powder packets can be formulated with delicious natural flavors that kids love and are extremely easy to dissolve and consume for children who have difficulty swallowing pills and capsules. Each powder packet contains a single serving, which is perfect for kids to pack on-the-go in lunch boxes or bags and take later on.

Although these quick dissolve powder packets may be reminiscent of unhealthy pixie stick candies, these powder packets as dietary supplements are made with vitamins, minerals and probiotics that help encourage nutritional wellness in children and are often free of sugar and artificial flavors and colors.

Benjamin: Gummies are one of the fastest growing delivery formats in the supplement space (over 6.5 percent CAGR) and it is a useful supplement format, particularly for children. The production processes involved in the gummy format involves intense heat however, which can kill many species of bacteria. As a result, the probiotics in gummies are spore (or soil) based and not of human origin.

To date, ProVen Probiotics have focused on the beneficial effects of human bacteria strains and we utilize lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains in our products, both of which are derived from the human gut and have been a long history of proven benefits. For this reason, our child products are currently in powder and chewable tablet forms, which allows us to utilize our strains derived from the human gut.

Jarvis: 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 (genetically modified organism).

By popular demand, from both parents and retailers, we are delighted to announce that GoL KIDS gummies are back in stock and on the shelf in time for “Back to School.”

We offer GoL Kids Vitamin D3 gummies, which are a clean 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. Just one small, easy-to-chew, delicious gummy daily delivers the 100 percent Daily Value of vitamin D as D3, with no sugar or artificial ingredients.

We also have GoL KIDS Immune Gummy, delivering 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, without any artificial ingredients or sugar.

VR: Everyone is obsessed with ingredients, additives, colors and fillers that are in kids’ supplements, or what should not be. What product ingredients should parents be looking for, and what should they be avoiding?

Jarvis: Rightly so, if we are delivering whole-food nutrition to children for immune support we should not be including unhealthy ingredients, such as sugar, which actually can suppress immune function and cause obesity and tooth decay.

Picky parents chose Garden of Life gummies because clean nutrition starts with Certified USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) Organic and Non-GMO Verified Ingredients—and because GoL KIDS Immune and Vitamin D3 gummies are made with organic tapioca fiber, made without sugar or artificial ingredients. We use monk fruit as a sweetener, organic fruit flavors, and organic annatto for real color.

We believe that our gummies should not only taste good, but they should also be good for kids too.

Benjamin: Children’s products usually need to be palatable, which means they often need to be flavored, particularly as they are unable to take capsules, which would not need flavoring. This can also mean that some of the ingredients included in capsules directed at adults are avoided in children’s products.

Usually flavor and sweetness can be added through natural flavors rather than synthetic and sweeteners, including soluble fiber such as inulin (about half as sweet as sugar) and xylitol, which may have an additional benefit in terms of dental care.

Many of these ingredients are also present in children’s foods, such as baby formulas and childhood snacks.

Levin: At NOW, our children’s supplements are made without any artificial flavors or colors and made without many of today’s common allergens. We use low-calorie alternative sweeteners like xylitol, monk fruit and stevia, which won’t harm teeth.

Mak: Parents who prefer all natural ingredients should keep an eye out for the use of natural colors and natural flavors as opposed to synthetic and FD&C (Food, Drug and Cosmetic) dyes. Natural colors that are plant-derived can be great alternatives to synthetic colors.

These natural alternatives, depending on the color, are commonly sourced from a variety of herbs, fruits, and vegetables, such as purple carrot, elderberry, beet, paprika, turmeric, grape, and spirulina.

Natural sweeteners, as opposed to refined sugar, are low in calories and low in fructose while still retaining their pleasant sweetness. Some of these natural sweeteners found in healthful products include stevia extract, monk fruit extract and xylitol.

VR: Are probiotics for kids becoming a huge thing? If so, please elaborate on this monster sub-category.

Levin: Probiotics are healthy intestinal flora that help to create a favorable environment for the absorption of nutrients and support healthy immunity. This has become a strong category for kids.

We’re seeing a lot of interest in NOW BerryDophilus, which has 2 billion CFU from a combination of 10 carefully selected probiotic bacterial strains designed to support gastrointestinal health and healthy immune system function. Healthy intestinal flora also helps to create a favorable environment for the absorption of nutrients. Sweetened with xylitol, BerryDophilus won’t harm teeth and it tastes really good. We also offer Extra Strength BerryDophilus 10 billion CFU; which is five times stronger than our regular strength BerryDophilus.

We also developed NOW OralBiotic containing 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.

Mak: Probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics-based products are by far the most exciting health-promoting products for kids today. There is incredible potential for these products to address many different segments of children’s health, such as digestive health, immune health and cognitive health. Studies conducted among infants and children have demonstrated a strong association between gut microbiome profiles and cognitive and immune function. Developing and maintaining a healthy gut during infancy and childhood can therefore be especially important for overall growth and development.

Benjamin: Probiotics are now a huge category due to the recognized importance of the microbiome in supporting immune system development and overall health throughout life.

The most important use of probiotics is for newborn babies, as establishing a robust microbiome in infancy helps to establish lifelong health. We now know that early immune development occurs through the establishment of the microbiome, which occurs at birth and during the first years of life, and that the composition of the microbiome has implications for many diseases through childhood, adulthood and into old age.

There is also now significant evidence that probiotics specifically help to support and strengthen the immune system through childhood, particularly in relation to respiratory tract infections.

Jarvis: Mostly definitely, long gone are the days when probiotics were only given to kids after a course of antibiotics for earaches. Considerable 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.

Emerging research suggests that a compromised microbiome, especially in kids, may be associated with poor immune health, some common allergies and autoimmune conditions. Again, the message here is to give kids probiotics daily as a preventative measure rather than waiting until your child is constipated or sick.

Garden of Life recently launched new probiotics including an Advanced Pre + Probiotic Gummy for Kids. Probiotic gummies are usually produced with just a single probiotic strain, high in sugar and void of added beneficial ingredients. Garden of Life has risen to the challenge to provide a high-quality probiotic gummy in an efficacious dose of 5 billion CFU with multi-strains (four spore-forming probiotics) and FOS prebiotic fiber along with 800 IU (100 percent Daily Value) of vitamin D.

Our probiotics are formulated with a high CFU guaranteed at expiration date, multiple strains studied in human clinical trials, and beneficial prebiotics and vitamins. There is no added sugar. The sweetness in the gummies comes naturally from fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Our FOS is sourced from Non-GMO Project Verified beets—this is important because most beets are genetically engineered. This naturally occurring prebiotic fiber promotes the growth of good bacteria along with probiotics for digestive and immune system health.

Billingslea: Yes, parents seem more open to realizing their kids need probiotics than other supplements. We all want better immune systems. With current events, we all suffer from chronic stress. Because of all the good press on probiotics, and also since they see how probiotics help themselves, parents want probiotics that meet their children’s unique needs.

VR: For retailers only, what are you seeing for this category at your store, or what would you like to see?

Billingslea: Mainly, we’re seeing an uptick in demand for probiotics and better, basic multivitamins and minerals. Customers do want products that are clearly labeled for their children so that they can feel comfortable with what they are giving them.

VR: For manufacturers, what recommendations, tools or resources do you have available to help retailers sell or market children’s health products even better?

Mak: We support retailers through in-store demos, IRC programs and support on our social channels.

Levin: For years, NOW has offered a variety of training programs to support natural products retailers. One of those is a monthly webinar for retailers on a range of relevant topics to impart knowledge that will help them select and recommend products. We have a very good product info team that is available via phone and email for retailers (and consumers) to call with any questions they may have.

Benjamin: We provide point-of-sale and online resources for all retailers (along with our website containing further information for consumers) and are open to working with individual retailers to help promote our children’s products.

The clinical research supporting our children’s products specifically supports retailers in reassuring consumers and parents of the efficacy and safety of our products. Our baby products were given ethical approval for use in a large trial of more than 450 mother/baby pairs during pregnancy and infancy and were shown to be completely safe. And our product for children has been used in two long-term trials with children aged 3-10 years of age and shown significant benefits.

VR: What would you like to add?

Mak: When it comes to probiotics, we would just like to add that we recommend directing customers to look for strain-specific probiotics as this level of specificity is necessary for understanding the science backing product efficacy. For example, several products on the market contain different strains of lactobacillus. Because each strain is unique, the efficacy of lactobacillus bacteria can also vary from strain to strain. As a result, customers should check and make sure that the product they are purchasing contains that strain-specific probiotic they are interested in.

Billingslea: Our children’s section, though already wide in variety, is one we are always on the lookout to improve. We would like to get more teen and pre-teen products, labeled so parents aren’t trying to modify their adult supplements to meet their kids’ needs.

Benjamin: ProVen Probiotics is launching this month in the U.S. at Natural Products Expo East in September 2022 and will be available at our booth (4259) throughout the show.

Our products are also available for purchase in the U.S. both through our website and on Amazon. We are currently actively speaking with distributors and retailers throughout the country and are open to conversations with potential distributors, particularly health food stores. VR

Extra! Extra!

Panelists:

Adrienne Benjamin, Marketing Manager, ProVen Probiotics, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, U.K., https://provenprobiotics.co

Ramona Billingslea, Marketing Manager, Betsy’s Health Foods, Spring, TX, https://betsyhealth.com

Dawn Jarvis, Senior Director Nutrition Science and Education Content, Garden of Life, Palm Beach Gardens, FL, www.gardenoflife.com

Neil Levin, CCN, DANLA, Senior Nutrition Education Manager, NOW Foods, Bloomingdale, IL, www.nowfoods.com

Trisha Sugarek MacDonald, BS, MS, Senior Director of Research & Development/National Educator, Bluebonnet Nutrition, Corporation, Sugar Land, TX, https://bluebonnetnutrition.com

Vicky Mak, Technical Writer, ChildLife Essentials, El Segundo, CA, https://childlifenutrition.com

Marge Roman, Manager, Stay Healthy!, Las Vegas, NV, www.stayhealthylasvegas.com

The children’s health category has evolved quite a bit since 1968, when Miles Laboratories introduced the wildly popular Flintstones vitamins. Gone are the days of horse tablets loaded with artificial colors and flavors. Manufacturers and retailers are increasingly offering a range of children’s health supplements geared to multiple health areas—from immunity to cognitive health, from bone health to digestive health, and more—and featuring a range of ingredients over and above the basics, including (but not limited to) omega-3s, calcium, vitamin K2, probiotics, elderberry, echinacea and more.

Here to help us take a look through our virtual ViewMaster at where the children’s health category is right now is a panel of dietary supplement industry experts.

VR: How would you describe the state of the market for children’s health supplements?

Sugarek MacDonald: The impact of COVID-19 on children extends well beyond viral infection, with public health implications that could have life-long consequences. This is because in the post-COVID world, children’s diets are still being disrupted. Even if many have returned to in-person classrooms, the groundwork for ravaged routines has been set.

Unfortunately, with routines being challenged, few children manage to eat a full range of nutritious foods every day like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish. Add in the snacking of sugar-laden foods combined with getting less exercise and additional screen time, nutritional disaster has been noticeable. This has led many manufacturers to create products that consumers seek to maximize their health and boost their immunity while providing effective, nutritious and safe formulations the whole family will love.

Billingslea: We could use more targeted formulas for every age group, not just toddlers. Even if there isn’t much difference in the formulas, having labels that show the product can be helpful for a specific age group really helps parents feel more comfortable with purchasing products.

Finding the right method of delivery is another challenge in children’s health supplements. Gummies that can taste good without a high sugar content, liquid formulas, and smaller capsules that kiddos might swallow are all challenges formulators must overcome.

We are limited in our children’s health supplement choices because we must choose manufacturing partners who support small retailers through aggressive MAP policies.

Our private-label products for kids have several liquids, but could offer more targeted, age-specific formulas. Is there a strong enough demand to warrant the manufacturer placing resources into such products? I don’t know.

Mak: Over the past few years, the pandemic has made parents more concerned and informed about protecting their children’s immune system and overall health. Not only is the current state of the children’s health supplement market expanding, but immune support also continues to reign as a popular segment within the market. Parental interest in multivitamins as well as products for specific areas of health, such as immune health, cognitive health and digestive health, is growing. Parents are searching for effective solutions to help boost all aspects of their children’s growth and development, which can be vulnerable to environmental stressors brought on by the pandemic.

Benjamin: The marketplace for children’s health supplements has grown steadily over the past 10 years and there are now a vast number of supplement options available for children in a variety of formats and formulations.

Parents are increasingly more aware of the need for supplements to support diet and understand their role in preventative health, although the variety and range of supplements and available information can lead to confusion about which supplements are best for children of different ages.

There are certain types of supplements with significant evidence of specific benefits for children—multivitamins for all children, omega-3 supplements for ages 1-7 for brain development and behavior regulation, and probiotics for strengthening the immune system, particularly in relation to coughs and colds.

Levin: We have seen a continued interest in immune support products for children that began early in the pandemic. Since children have returned to the classroom and COVID is still circulating, many parents prioritize their children’s immune health with supplements including vitamin C, vitamin D, probiotics and herbal products like echinacea. The NOW Kids line includes many of these products in a variety of forms including great-tasting, sugar-free liquids and chewables.

VR: What ingredient is doing extremely well in this category, or surprisingly poorly, if applicable, and why?

Levin: The only ingredient we’ve seen a real dip in is elderberry, but not just in our kids’ line. It spiked during the first year of the COVID pandemic but has since decreased in popularity across the whole line from kid’s SKUs to adults. There are so many options out there it wasn’t surprising that with all the new immune support products on the market we saw a dip in other SKUs. And the industry saw much discussion of elderberry adulteration as demand soared, so that may have been a factor.

Mak: Within the children’s health category, omega-3 fatty acids are becoming popular ingredients due to their potential impact on various health aspects, like cognitive health and digestive health. Increasing scientific evidence has shown that omega-3 fatty acids interact with the gut-brain axis, influencing both intellectual development and gut microbial composition. Several studies among infants and children have consistently demonstrated that supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA, can improve cognitive measures and visual function. Consuming both omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA can directly alter and balance gut microbiota, potentially improving intestinal health and function in early life.

Parents are growing more aware of these benefits for their children’s cognitive and gut development and, therefore, are taking major steps to supplement their children’s diets with omega-3 fatty acids whenever necessary.

Benjamin: Probiotics 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 colds. In fact, it is now recognized that probiotics provide a much greater benefit than the traditional nutrients such as vitamin C and zinc.

Billingslea: Looking over our sales of the last few months, I’m surprised that our D3 for kids isn’t selling more. I think that has to do with a lack of understanding on how important D3 levels are to overall health, and that’s on us.

Acidophilus and multivitamins are selling okay, but I would like to see more movement for these products as well.

I’m not sure how many teenagers are using lower doses of some of our adult vitamins instead of the kid-specific formulas, so that can throw off the numbers as far as how well products are doing for kids. Because of the overall makeup of our customers, kids’ products have never been really large sellers for us.

Roman: Vitamin D is the strongest. Living in Las Vegas many parents don’t think children could lack D, but surprisingly they do.

VR: What is the single-biggest problem or challenge facing manufacturers or retailers regarding children’s health supplements?

Billingslea: Mainly, we retailers face two challenges. One is people seeing the need or urgency for health supplements when it comes to children. I have a gut feeling many people think a Flintstones vitamin will do. The second issue is selection due to manufacturing partner limits and the variety or lack thereof for manufacturers you can choose to safely partner with.

Mak: The biggest challenge manufacturers may face is developing a product that appeals to kids’ palates without compromising nutritional content.

Children can be especially picky about the things they eat—in fact, according to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, 35 percent of parents report that their children have picky eating. If a dietary supplement turns out to have poor taste quality yet high nutritional value, chances are that kids would avoid consuming it. However, if the dietary supplement has great taste but low nutritional quality, then parents may not be interested in purchasing the supplement at all.

Manufacturers must consider many factors that can influence a product’s appeal to both parents and children. These factors include the delivery format, texture, flavor, consistency, visual and even packaging of the product. Each factor could impact whether it takes one or several attempts to successfully make the final product. Therefore, it’s important that manufacturers formulate dietary supplements that suit children’s tastes as well as their nutritional needs.

Roman: I think the biggest challenge is delivery of nutrients. Getting enough nutrients into a chewable is difficult—balancing sweeteners with nutrients.

Benjamin: There are a number of inconveniences rather than challenges in relation to children’s health supplements for the following reasons:

• Children below 4 years of age can’t take capsules, tablets or soft gels due to choking hazard and, as a result, supplements for children need to be of a different format.

• Children’s supplements need to be palatable and therefore tend to be heavily biased towards gummies, chewable tablets and powders, all of which need to be flavored. A lot of the nutrients used in tablets and capsules can’t be used in children’s products because they are unpalatable, for example, antioxidants like quercetin and even iron.

As a result, it can be difficult to find a balance between palatability and choice of ingredients when manufacturing and selling supplements for children. In addition, evidence of safety and efficacy is required to help engender trust in products or brands designed to be given to children. ProVen Probiotics’ baby and child products are supported by clinical trials in which the products themselves were used in comparison with placebo. This clinical research supports the specific benefits of the individual products and provides evidence of safety.

Sugarek MacDonald: Safety and taste are by far the most important considerations when developing children’s health products. Focusing on these key selling points can be beneficial and will most definitely catch a parent’s attention. Because many children are picky eaters, it is important to make great-tasting products they will love to take daily. If they do not like it, they will not take it! Just ask any mom.

Furthermore, behind the scenes, it is even more critical that the products are formulated to be safe and effective. This is a no-brainer but should be mentioned, nonetheless.

Another way to create safer products that will attract a mom’s attention is to focus on clean label initiatives like kosher, allergen-free, non-GMO (genetically modified organism), and free of artificially derived flavors, colors and sweeteners. Certifications and clean label initiatives such as these can also help to ease parents’ minds, knowing their children are getting the safest nutrition possible.

VR: There are different state bills supposedly aimed at protecting kids from supplements, including one in Rhode Island that would put most supplements behind the counter. What is going on in these states?

Levin: There are misguided attempts in some state legislatures to prohibit sales of supplements, or certain diet-related supplements, to children. This is primarily due to a concern that teens may be using supplements for extreme dieting fads. However, it is unproven speculation.

It seems unlikely that teenagers would consider using many of the products that would be restricted by such a broad description of the intended product categories that could include such benign items such as lecithin, protein powders and fiber, which make claims to help with bodybuilding, weight-management and satiety.

Fortunately, the Rhode Island bill did not make it through the legislature, though it passed one chamber. This bill is not thought to be in position to pass this session, which would require it to start over next year. It would make more sense to target specific problematic ingredients to discourage their use by teens, rather than broad categories of uncontroversial products or even all dietary supplements.

Mak: The bills passed in California, New York, and most recently Rhode Island, prohibit the sale of certain dietary supplements to minors. These dietary supplements are marketed for weight loss. There has been general concern about the detrimental effects of OTC (over-the-counter) diet pills and weight-loss supplements and how they pose serious health risks to young consumers.

Considering that body image and eating disorders are frequent issues among adolescents in the U.S., supporters of the bills asserted that these weight-loss supplements could dangerously affect the physical health of minors. The CDC (Center for Diseases Control and Prevention) was mentioned to have estimated that 23,000 Americans are sent to emergency rooms every year due to supplements, with a quarter due to the weight-loss category alone.

Opponents of these bills argued that there is no credible science that links weight-loss products to body dysmorphia and eating disorders. According to the opponents, these bills that require stores and pharmacies to enforce limited access of these supplements may reduce time devoted to patient care. Roman: Kids don’t usually buy supplements. These bills seem to refer to diet and sports supplements, many of which are ill-advised for young kids.

VR: Talk about the recent headlines about a supposed melatonin poisoning epidemic in kids–what’s going on here?

Levin: NOW doesn’t offer a melatonin product in our kid’s line of supplements.

Upon review of the data, the increase in poison control center inquiries about melatonin seems to be primarily related to two factors: toddlers getting hold of candy-like gummies that are not kept out of reach and teens trying to overcompensate for stress and poor sleeping habits. An additional factor is that some parents overmedicate their very young children.

The vast majority of such reports are resolved without serious harm to the children, and the two deaths reported over a period of years involved one child who was given the melatonin by a parent and another who apparently accessed the product and was able to consume it without supervision.

The number of such serious reports is tiny compared to typical numbers of allergic reactions to foods or food poisoning. In general parents should be concerned about unsupervised access of any supplement or medication by preschool children and poor judgment by some sleep-deprived teens who ignore label dosing and cautions. Though some were hospitalized for observation or treatment, there seemed to be relatively little risk of serious harm to the teens in these reports, especially when looking at how rare the reports are compared to how many doses are used.

VR: What about vitamin K2 and bone health; dairy-avoiding parents may well need to consider supplementing their kids with vitamin K2 and calcium, correct? Please elaborate.

Benjamin: The recommendations for supplementation of these nutrients will vary depending on the age of the child. As dairy products are a major source of calcium and vitamin K2 for young children up to around 12-13 years of age and, if a child avoids dairy during this time there may be a need for supplementation.

We would recommend considering vitamin D alongside vitamin K2 and calcium, as all three work synergistically together and are thus found alongside each other in dairy and other foods. Vitamin D can be compensated for by exposure to the sun, although this may not be possible in more northerly latitudes, particularly in the autumn and winter months.

Billingslea: I think all kids these days need basic supplement support, just like us adults. They, too, are eating food with inferior nutrients, fighting toxin exposure and chronic stress. [Kids also need] minerals like calcium and magnesium. And since we now know more than ever how important the balance of vitamins and minerals is, D3, K2, calcium, magnesium and more could be a benefit beginning when we are children. We can no longer wait until adulthood to worry about nutrient gaps.

Levin: It is well known that childhood is a crucial time for bone growth, so calcium is very important, and magnesium should be delivered with calcium. The recommended amount for children from 4 to 13 years old is 1,300 mg per day. Everyone knows calcium is essential in developing strong bones and teeth, but calcium is also important for the proper function of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, and for cognitive health. Calcium helps with normal blood coagulation as well. Calcium is stored in the bones for many years, and those bones function as reservoirs that our body can tap into if we’re not getting enough from our diet.

That’s another reason why it’s so important for kids to get enough calcium; not only to build strong bones, but to build up a reserve that the body can fall back on throughout life. Adding vitamin K2 makes sense as research identified the role of K2 in guiding the calcium to the bones.

NOW Kid-Cal has the nutrients a growing skeleton needs, including highly bioavailable calcium and magnesium citrates, vitamin D, and vitamin A as beta-carotene. Kid-Cal is sugar-free, and its tasty tart orange flavor is made from real fruit concentrate. Adding vitamin K2 makes sense as research identified the role of K2 in guiding the calcium to the bones.

Sugarek MacDonald: Parents are looking for functional products that boost their children’s immunity and everyday wellness with clean label ingredients. Food jags, eating on the run, poor food choices, and a bombardment of advertising that teaches kids to eat all the wrong foods, taking a multivitamin and mineral formula acts as an insurance policy to make sure each child gets all the essential vitamins and minerals needed for optimal growth and development.

Bluebonnet’s Rainforest Animalz Whole-Food Based Multiple [features vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium and probiotics and delivers] a kosher-certified, gluten-free comprehensive array of the essential micronutrients kids need daily with extra nutritional support to meet their growth and developmental, immune, gut and bone health needs. As an added bonus, the nutritional scientists at Bluebonnet snuck in all those healthy super fruits (e.g., acai, acerola, apple, bilberry, blueberry, cherry, cranberry, goji, grape, orange, papaya, pineapple, prune, raspberry, and strawberry fruits, grape seed, and raspberry seed) and vegetables (e.g., broccoli, broccoli sprouts, brussels sprouts, carrot, kale, onion, spinach, tomatoes) that kids will love in most of these formulas.

Mak: Vitamin K is a micronutrient important for regulating cell division and differentiation and bone mineralization. Vitamin K2 is a type of vitamin K that supports healthy bone metabolism via the activation of osteocalcin proteins. A 2009 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that vitamin K2 improved osteocalcin activation among healthy girls compared to the placebo, suggesting benefits for promoting bone health in children.

Calcium is another well-known essential mineral that encourages optimal bone function in children. While dairy products are the best sources of calcium, parents may choose to avoid dairy in their children’s diets for various reasons, either health-related or by personal preference. Instead, non-dairy supplements can be a great option for these concerned parents.

To provide that extra nutritional support kids need for proper bone development, parents should strongly consider supplementing with, not only calcium, but also vitamin K2. Products that combine both calcium and vitamin K2 allow children to readily obtain the benefits of both nutrients within a single serving.

VR: Back to school also means back to the colds and sniffles. What immune boosting ingredients, combinations or finished products are becoming extremely popular, and why?

Jarvis: The top immune supporting ingredients for children are vitamins C, D and zinc. Sixteen years of NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ) data have shown significant deficiencies in these nutrients.

For example, the data show that 87 percent of U.S. children have inadequate intake of vitamin D. Most parents know that vitamin D is important for kids growing bones and immune health, and they are justifiably concerned that their kids are not eating enough of the foods which are good sources of natural vitamin D such as oily fish, like sardines and mackerel, and mushrooms. Evidently fortified foods are not helping to remedy poor intake either.

During the pandemic, and especially now as kids go back to school, we experience demands for supplements of these key immune supporting nutrients. Combinations of vitamins C and D with zinc are popular because they each support components of the immune system, which together provide comprehensive immune support. Ideally we should be giving kids immune-supporting nutrients as daily prevention versus waiting until Johnny or Suzie already has the sniffles!

Benjamin: Probiotics are now known to be the No. 1 nutrient for supporting the immune system, followed by vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc. ProVen Probiotics Fit for School product combines probiotics with both vitamins C and D.

Billingslea: Our children’s acidophilus and chewable vitamin C always do well. Since we especially want to approach children’s health with caution, we often turn to homeopathic remedies for them.

Mak: There has been consistent demand among parents for dietary supplements that support their children’s immune system, especially since kids are returning to schools and encountering germs regularly. Parents are turning to products that contain well-known, immune-boosting vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc, and even traditional herbal ingredients rich in antioxidants, like elderberry.

Studies have shown that vitamin C and D are essential nutrients necessary for modulating the immune response and that zinc is important for the functioning of immune cells. Elderberry has also demonstrated the ability to reduce upper respiratory symptom severity and total duration, providing immune support. Children’s supplements formulated with probiotics are also becoming popular among consumers due to growing clinical research establishing the role of the gut microbiome in promoting immune health.

VR: Nobody likes horse pills, and this is most true when talking about kids. Are gummies going wild, and are there some other advances in size of capsules or delivery forms that we need to be aware of? Please elaborate.

Levin: We primarily offer chewables and liquids in our NOW Kids line. We’ve formulated them to taste good and have less sugar than “typical” children’s gummies do. We are always looking for new formats as long as they can allow us to give RDI (recommeneded daily intake) of the actives. Taste and format are important but quality and function need to meet our consumers’ expectations.

Mak: While the gummy format continues to be very popular among kids due to its similar appeal with gummy candies, quick dissolve powder packets are recently emerging as a promising delivery method in the children’s health supplement market.

Unlike conventional pills and tablets, quick dissolve powder packets can be formulated with delicious natural flavors that kids love and are extremely easy to dissolve and consume for children who have difficulty swallowing pills and capsules. Each powder packet contains a single serving, which is perfect for kids to pack on-the-go in lunch boxes or bags and take later on.

Although these quick dissolve powder packets may be reminiscent of unhealthy pixie stick candies, these powder packets as dietary supplements are made with vitamins, minerals and probiotics that help encourage nutritional wellness in children and are often free of sugar and artificial flavors and colors.

Benjamin: Gummies are one of the fastest growing delivery formats in the supplement space (over 6.5 percent CAGR) and it is a useful supplement format, particularly for children. The production processes involved in the gummy format involves intense heat however, which can kill many species of bacteria. As a result, the probiotics in gummies are spore (or soil) based and not of human origin.

To date, ProVen Probiotics have focused on the beneficial effects of human bacteria strains and we utilize lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains in our products, both of which are derived from the human gut and have been a long history of proven benefits. For this reason, our child products are currently in powder and chewable tablet forms, which allows us to utilize our strains derived from the human gut.

Jarvis: 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 (genetically modified organism).

By popular demand, from both parents and retailers, we are delighted to announce that GoL KIDS gummies are back in stock and on the shelf in time for “Back to School.”

We offer GoL Kids Vitamin D3 gummies, which are a clean 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. Just one small, easy-to-chew, delicious gummy daily delivers the 100 percent Daily Value of vitamin D as D3, with no sugar or artificial ingredients.

We also have GoL KIDS Immune Gummy, delivering 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, without any artificial ingredients or sugar.

VR: Everyone is obsessed with ingredients, additives, colors and fillers that are in kids’ supplements, or what should not be. What product ingredients should parents be looking for, and what should they be avoiding?

Jarvis: Rightly so, if we are delivering whole-food nutrition to children for immune support we should not be including unhealthy ingredients, such as sugar, which actually can suppress immune function and cause obesity and tooth decay.

Picky parents chose Garden of Life gummies because clean nutrition starts with Certified USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) Organic and Non-GMO Verified Ingredients—and because GoL KIDS Immune and Vitamin D3 gummies are made with organic tapioca fiber, made without sugar or artificial ingredients. We use monk fruit as a sweetener, organic fruit flavors, and organic annatto for real color.

We believe that our gummies should not only taste good, but they should also be good for kids too.

Benjamin: Children’s products usually need to be palatable, which means they often need to be flavored, particularly as they are unable to take capsules, which would not need flavoring. This can also mean that some of the ingredients included in capsules directed at adults are avoided in children’s products.

Usually flavor and sweetness can be added through natural flavors rather than synthetic and sweeteners, including soluble fiber such as inulin (about half as sweet as sugar) and xylitol, which may have an additional benefit in terms of dental care.

Many of these ingredients are also present in children’s foods, such as baby formulas and childhood snacks.

Levin: At NOW, our children’s supplements are made without any artificial flavors or colors and made without many of today’s common allergens. We use low-calorie alternative sweeteners like xylitol, monk fruit and stevia, which won’t harm teeth.

Mak: Parents who prefer all natural ingredients should keep an eye out for the use of natural colors and natural flavors as opposed to synthetic and FD&C (Food, Drug and Cosmetic) dyes. Natural colors that are plant-derived can be great alternatives to synthetic colors.

These natural alternatives, depending on the color, are commonly sourced from a variety of herbs, fruits, and vegetables, such as purple carrot, elderberry, beet, paprika, turmeric, grape, and spirulina.

Natural sweeteners, as opposed to refined sugar, are low in calories and low in fructose while still retaining their pleasant sweetness. Some of these natural sweeteners found in healthful products include stevia extract, monk fruit extract and xylitol.

VR: Are probiotics for kids becoming a huge thing? If so, please elaborate on this monster sub-category.

Levin: Probiotics are healthy intestinal flora that help to create a favorable environment for the absorption of nutrients and support healthy immunity. This has become a strong category for kids.

We’re seeing a lot of interest in NOW BerryDophilus, which has 2 billion CFU from a combination of 10 carefully selected probiotic bacterial strains designed to support gastrointestinal health and healthy immune system function. Healthy intestinal flora also helps to create a favorable environment for the absorption of nutrients. Sweetened with xylitol, BerryDophilus won’t harm teeth and it tastes really good. We also offer Extra Strength BerryDophilus 10 billion CFU; which is five times stronger than our regular strength BerryDophilus.

We also developed NOW OralBiotic containing 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.

Mak: Probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics-based products are by far the most exciting health-promoting products for kids today. There is incredible potential for these products to address many different segments of children’s health, such as digestive health, immune health and cognitive health. Studies conducted among infants and children have demonstrated a strong association between gut microbiome profiles and cognitive and immune function. Developing and maintaining a healthy gut during infancy and childhood can therefore be especially important for overall growth and development.

Benjamin: Probiotics are now a huge category due to the recognized importance of the microbiome in supporting immune system development and overall health throughout life.

The most important use of probiotics is for newborn babies, as establishing a robust microbiome in infancy helps to establish lifelong health. We now know that early immune development occurs through the establishment of the microbiome, which occurs at birth and during the first years of life, and that the composition of the microbiome has implications for many diseases through childhood, adulthood and into old age.

There is also now significant evidence that probiotics specifically help to support and strengthen the immune system through childhood, particularly in relation to respiratory tract infections.

Jarvis: Mostly definitely, long gone are the days when probiotics were only given to kids after a course of antibiotics for earaches. Considerable 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.

Emerging research suggests that a compromised microbiome, especially in kids, may be associated with poor immune health, some common allergies and autoimmune conditions. Again, the message here is to give kids probiotics daily as a preventative measure rather than waiting until your child is constipated or sick.

Garden of Life recently launched new probiotics including an Advanced Pre + Probiotic Gummy for Kids. Probiotic gummies are usually produced with just a single probiotic strain, high in sugar and void of added beneficial ingredients. Garden of Life has risen to the challenge to provide a high-quality probiotic gummy in an efficacious dose of 5 billion CFU with multi-strains (four spore-forming probiotics) and FOS prebiotic fiber along with 800 IU (100 percent Daily Value) of vitamin D.

Our probiotics are formulated with a high CFU guaranteed at expiration date, multiple strains studied in human clinical trials, and beneficial prebiotics and vitamins. There is no added sugar. The sweetness in the gummies comes naturally from fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Our FOS is sourced from Non-GMO Project Verified beets—this is important because most beets are genetically engineered. This naturally occurring prebiotic fiber promotes the growth of good bacteria along with probiotics for digestive and immune system health.

Billingslea: Yes, parents seem more open to realizing their kids need probiotics than other supplements. We all want better immune systems. With current events, we all suffer from chronic stress. Because of all the good press on probiotics, and also since they see how probiotics help themselves, parents want probiotics that meet their children’s unique needs.

VR: For retailers only, what are you seeing for this category at your store, or what would you like to see?

Billingslea: Mainly, we’re seeing an uptick in demand for probiotics and better, basic multivitamins and minerals. Customers do want products that are clearly labeled for their children so that they can feel comfortable with what they are giving them.

VR: For manufacturers, what recommendations, tools or resources do you have available to help retailers sell or market children’s health products even better?

Mak: We support retailers through in-store demos, IRC programs and support on our social channels.

Levin: For years, NOW has offered a variety of training programs to support natural products retailers. One of those is a monthly webinar for retailers on a range of relevant topics to impart knowledge that will help them select and recommend products. We have a very good product info team that is available via phone and email for retailers (and consumers) to call with any questions they may have.

Benjamin: We provide point-of-sale and online resources for all retailers (along with our website containing further information for consumers) and are open to working with individual retailers to help promote our children’s products.

The clinical research supporting our children’s products specifically supports retailers in reassuring consumers and parents of the efficacy and safety of our products. Our baby products were given ethical approval for use in a large trial of more than 450 mother/baby pairs during pregnancy and infancy and were shown to be completely safe. And our product for children has been used in two long-term trials with children aged 3-10 years of age and shown significant benefits.

VR: What would you like to add?

Mak: When it comes to probiotics, we would just like to add that we recommend directing customers to look for strain-specific probiotics as this level of specificity is necessary for understanding the science backing product efficacy. For example, several products on the market contain different strains of lactobacillus. Because each strain is unique, the efficacy of lactobacillus bacteria can also vary from strain to strain. As a result, customers should check and make sure that the product they are purchasing contains that strain-specific probiotic they are interested in.

Billingslea: Our children’s section, though already wide in variety, is one we are always on the lookout to improve. We would like to get more teen and pre-teen products, labeled so parents aren’t trying to modify their adult supplements to meet their kids’ needs.

Benjamin: ProVen Probiotics is launching this month in the U.S. at Natural Products Expo East in September 2022 and will be available at our booth (4259) throughout the show.

Our products are also available for purchase in the U.S. both through our website and on Amazon. We are currently actively speaking with distributors and retailers throughout the country and are open to conversations with potential distributors, particularly health food stores. VR

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