Have you ever wondered why kids today, despite having so many food options, fall sick more often or need supplements from a young age? Our parents grew up without multivitamin gummies, energy drinks, or fortified cereals, yet they were usually healthier. So what changed?

Let’s dive into why today’s children are more deficient in essential vitamins and minerals than previous generations.

What’s Causing This Nutrient Deficiency?

There are multiple reasons behind it, and most of them are directly related to lifestyle and food habits.

1. Kids Are Eating More, But Not the Right Things

Our parents mostly ate fresh, home-cooked meals, like roti, sabzi, dal, curd, jaggery, and seasonal fruits. These simple foods gave them the nutrients their bodies needed. But today’s kids often eat more processed or packaged items . Most foods children eat today may taste good, but they’re low in actual nutrition. They are eating enough calories, but not getting enough real nutrients.

2. The Fresh Food Isn’t as Nutritious as Before

Earlier, farming was done in natural, healthy soil. But now, due to chemical fertilisers and overfarming, our soil has lost many important minerals like zinc, magnesium, and iron .

So even when we eat fruits and vegetables today, they don’t have the same strength and nutrition that our parents got from them.

• Research published in the Environmental Geochemistry and Health Journal confirms that Indian soil has significantly lower micronutrient levels now than 40 years ago.

3. Less Sunlight Means Less Vitamin D

• Over 50% of Indian children have low Vitamin D levels

This is something most parents don’t even realise. Vitamin D is one of the most common deficiencies in kids today, and it’s because they don’t spend enough time in natural sunlight .

Our parents used to walk to school, play in the open and do outdoor chores, all of which gave them regular exposure to the sun. But today’s kids are mostly indoors playing on phones, watching TV, or attending classes on screens. This directly affects their Vitamin D levels and weakens their bones and immunity.

• Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is synthesised in the skin when exposed to UVB rays. Indoor lifestyle and sunscreen reduce this by over 90%.

How Deficiency Shows Up in Real Life

When kids miss out on essential vitamins and minerals, it doesn’t just show up in blood tests. It shows up in real signs, weak eyes, slow growth, tiredness, dull skin, poor focus, or even hair loss. But many parents don’t realise it’s due to food.

We often treat the symptom, but forget to fix the root, which is poor nutrition .

What Can Parents Do?

• Try to include more natural, home-cooked food in their diet, like dal, vegetables, roti, rice, fruits, ghee, and curd.
• Say no to unnecessary packaged snacks or replace them with better options like dry fruits, makhana, roasted chana, boiled corn, or fruit slices.
• Let kids play outside, even for 20 minutes a day. Natural sunlight is free and powerful.
• Start reading food labels and don’t fall for marketing. Look for real ingredients. If sugar or maltodextrin is among the first few ingredients, it’s better to avoid.
• Include traditional, nutrient-rich items like ragi, bajra, haldi milk and seasonal greens in the routine.

Conclusion

Kids today aren’t sick because they eat less. They’re sick because they eat less of what matters. Let’s bring back the simple, natural habits our parents followed because that’s where real health begins.