- With Mayo Clinic nutritionists
Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
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Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Katherine Zeratsky and Jennifer Nelson
Jennifer K. Nelson, M.S., R.D., L.D., C.N.S.D.
Jennifer Nelson is your link to a better diet. As specialty editor of the Food & Nutrition Center, she plays a vital role in bringing you healthy recipes and meal planning."Nutrition is one way people have direct control over the quality of their lives," she says. "I hope to translate the science of nutrition into ways that people can select and prepare great-tasting foods that help maintain health and treat disease."
A St. Paul, Minn., native, she is certified by the National Board of Nutrition Support Certification, has been with Mayo Clinic since 1978, and is director of clinical dietetics and an associate professor of nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
She leads clinical nutrition efforts for a staff of more than 50 clinical dietitians and nine dietetic technicians and oversees staffing, strategic and financial planning, and quality improvement. Nelson was co-editor of the James Beard Foundation Award-winning "The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook." She has been a contributing author to and reviewer of many Mayo Clinic books, including "Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody," "The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" and "The Mayo Clinic/Williams Sonoma Cookbook." She contributes to the strategic direction of the Food & Nutrition Center, which includes creating recipes and menus, reviewing nutrition content of various articles, and answering nutrition questions posed to Ask a Specialist.
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
As a specialty editor for the Food & Nutrition Center, Katherine Zeratsky helps you sort through the facts and figures, the fads and the hype to learn more about nutrition and diet.A Marinette, Wis., native, she is certified in dietetics by the state of Minnesota and the American Dietetic Association. She has been with Mayo Clinic since 1999.
She is active in nutrition-related curriculum and course development in pediatrics at Mayo Clinic Rochester and nutrition education related to the physiology and recommended intakes for premature infants.
Other areas of interest include breast milk and formula safety, neonatal feeding, and nutrition for breast-feeding mothers.
She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, served a dietetic internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and worked as a registered dietitian and health risk counselor at ThedaCare of Appleton, Wis., before joining the Mayo Clinic staff.
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Nutrition-wise blog
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April 11, 2009
Vitamins and kids' health
By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
According to a report in the February 2009 issue of the "Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine," 34% of U.S. kids ages 2 to 17 take multivitamin supplements. Interestingly, most of these children and adolescents are generally healthy — they have access to food and health care and have healthy lifestyle habits. In contrast, the report found that children and adolescents at greatest risks of vitamin and mineral deficiencies — such as those with less healthy nutrition and activity patterns and less access to health care — use supplements the least.
Reflecting on this report, these thoughts came to mind:
- Fortunately — and unfortunately — our understanding of the benefits of supplementing children's diets comes from research in developing countries. It begs the question: Do children in developed countries where food is plentiful need multivitamins or supplements of any kind?
- The American Academy of Pediatrics does not generally recommend multivitamins for children with a healthy, varied diet.
- Programs such as WIC and food stamps are designed to help families acquire healthy foods for their children. The sad reality, however, is that many still lack food security — access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food — despite such programs. What do we do about this? Do we recommend multivitamins for kids in this situation when we know food is the better option? Might we be changing our view of the "need" for vitamin supplementation as we learn more about vitamin D requirements and deficiency in children?
Will we be putting more emphasis on individualized approaches to supplement use? Tailoring recommendations by age, region, season and socioeconomics?
What are your thoughts?
In closing, I think of my mother-in-law, a former teacher, who lobbied for school breakfast at her school. She saw children coming to school hungry, not having had a meal since the school lunch the day before. We all know the benefits of breakfast and performance at school. It seems obvious that feeding kids healthy foods keeps kids healthy. I'm not a mathematician, but I think if we did that we'd see tremendous savings in short- and long-term health care spending.
2 comments posted
- Shaikh U, at el. Vitamin mineral supplement use by children and adolescents in the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: Relationship with nutrition, food security, physical activity, and health care access. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. 2009;163:150.
2 comments posted