The founders of SmartyPants were all facing the same problem: Why did it have to be so hard to help the kids in our lives get the nutrients they needed every day? We all had the same stories: 3 different servings, vitamins that tasted “yucky”, clean vitamins that meant we were spending $40-60/month per child... When we couldn’t find an all in one vitamin that our kids would take regularly and that we knew we could afford and feel good about, we decided to make one ourselves!
<h3>Kids Don't Get the Nutrition They Need</h3>Being a parent these days includes making choices our parents never had to face, because let’s face it, the world we live in has become a whole lot more polluted. Not only has our food supply has been taken over by genetically-modified crops, but the processed food industry has succeeded in putting nutritionally worthless "foods" onto most dinner menus across the land.
<h3>The result?</h3>The USDA gave American kids diet a FAILING GRADE of 59/100 on the <a href="http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/healthyeatingindex.htm">USDA Healthy Eating Index</a>. The rates of childhood afflictions tied to poor nutrition have shot up exponentially in the last twenty years. <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data.html">ADHD</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20522849">asthma</a>, <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm">childhood obesity</a>, <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/prev/national/figage.htm">diabetes</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US-autism-6-17-1996-2007.png">autism</a> rates have all exploded, resulting in arguably the least healthy generation of kids ever seen in America. At the same time we have seen <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630143523.htm">increasing rates</a> of vitamin D deficiency that can negatively impact bone growth and the immune system in a kid's development and health. We have also seen that <a href="http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/minutes01_2829_2004.htm">70% of Americans</a> (kids included) don't get optimal amounts of Omega 3 DHA / EPA.
<h3>What to Do?</h3>As a parent, you may be asking yourself what you can do to help your children avoid becoming one of the many who suffer from poor childhood nutrition and its related afflictions? One of the best things you can do to help your child get a healthy start in life is provide them with quality daily nutritional supplement designed just for kids.

As parents, we all know how hard it can be to get a child to eat something they don't like. Like you, we did not want to have a daily battle over yucky tasting horse pills or gross tasting fish oil that they just refuse to eat. And nutrition that sits on a shelf uneaten, isn’t nutrition at all-just a waste of money. We looked and looked for a kids single serving vitamin that had all the good stuff (natural + organic ingredients, complete multivitamin + omega 3 fish oil + vitamin d3) with none of the bad (high fructose corn syrup, poor taste, sticking to teeth, artificial flavors, color). But we could not find one.
<h3>Choosing the Best Kids all-in-one Gummy Vitamins for Your Family</h3>When we decided to solve the problem, we asked our pediatricians and health care providers what an ideal all-in-one gummy vitamin would look like. Their advice: make high quality gummy vitamins that kids will actually want to eat and focus on those nutrients toughest to get safely from food like D3, Omega 3 Fish OIl and B vitamins.. Because our gummy vitamins were designed with our own kids in mind, we only used the highest quality natural, Organic, and sustainable ingredients combined with the best nutritional science available because <a href="http://smartypantsvitamins.com/site/top-five-myths-about-childrens-vitamins-myth-2-if-you-take-vitamins-you-can-eat-whatever-you-want/">what goes into your kids' vitamins really does matter</a>. We made lots of choices along the way that we believe really make SmartyPants Gummy Vitamins for Kids unique:
<ul>
<li>Unique All-in-One formulation: SmartyPants are the ONLY  kids gummy vitamin to combine a complete multivitamin + Omega 3 fish oil + over 100% of vitamin D3. This makes it easier and more affordable to give your children very high quality nutrients in one single serving. And who couldn’t use one less thing to worry about?</li>
<li>Omega 3 Fish Oil: SmartyPants Gummy Vitamins for Kids make it easy to ensure your kids get all the Omega 3 fish oil benefits they need.   70% of kids in the US are considered to be<a href="http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/minutes01_2829_2004.htm"> Omega 3 deficient</a>.  Studies of Omega 3 fish oil benefits have focused on how fish oil benefits heart, eye, and<a href="http://smartypantsvitamins.com/blog/?p=787"> brain health + development</a>, as well as how<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19460115"> omega 3 might reduce obesity</a>.</li>
<li>Vitamin D: An estimated<a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2009-08-03/health/vitamin.d.children_1_vitamin-d-levels-low-vitamin-d-levels-vitamin-d-deficiency?_s=PM:HEALTH"> 70% of kids</a> have a vitamin D deficiency which can lead to problems with bone health, immune system functioning, asthma issues, brain health, and body weight.  Because vitamin D is so important to a child's overall health, the<a href="http://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Vitamin-D-On-the-Double.aspx"> American Academy of Pediatrics recommends ALL kids take a vitamin D</a> supplement.  We use vitamin D3, the natural and most bio-available form of vitamin D in our gummy vitamins and the one most recommended by doctors.  Read more about the problems of vitamin D3 deficiencies.</li>
<li>Full Multivitamin: our multivitamin focuses on those nutrients that are hard-to-get  from diet alone.  We wanted to make sure our kids get the best of what they need.  So we only use the highest quality ingredients and never cut corners to save money at the expense of our children's health.  For example, almost all other kids gummy vitamins available use a cheaper, synthetic form of vitamin B12 called<a href="http://supplementchemistry.blogspot.com/2008/03/b12-cyanocobalamin-versus.html"> cyanocabalamin</a> that, when metabolized, leaves behind traces of cyanide(!) in your kids' bodies.  We don't want our kids or yours to be exposed to any cyanide so we use the natural, more bio-available form of B12, methylcobalamin, in our kids gummy vitamins.</li>
<li>Natural Colors + Flavors: many kids gummy vitamins contain artificial dyes and artificial colors, both of which have been<a href="http://www.additudemag.com/adhdblogs/4/5281.html"> linked by researchers to ADHD</a> and have been<a href="http://www.tampabay.com/features/consumer/article636211.ece"> banned entirely</a> from foods marketed to children in England.  Since we don't want to expose our kids to any artificial toxins, we use only natural flavors and colors.</li>
<li>NO High Fructose Corn Syrup!   Although almost all kids gummy vitamins on the market today use High Fructose Corn Syrup or other fake or highly processed sweeteners, we only use Organic Cane Sugar and Organic tapioca.  Studies show your body CAN tell the difference between organic cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup.  Although our cane sugar costs more, our sweeteners are NOT loaded with GMO's or heavily linked to<a href="http://smartypantsvitamins.com/blog/?p=797"> obesity like High Fructose Corn Syrup</a>. (Did you know that some GMO corn is considered a<a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/02648wu132m07804/"> pesticide</a> and has been shown to cause<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/monsantos-gmo-corn-linked_n_420365.html"> organ damage</a> because it is so toxic?)  Also our pediatricians said they preferred we use organic cane sugar instead of other sweeteners because science understands how cane sugar is metabolized much better and because the cane sugar can also aid in the absorption of the nutrients in our gummy vitamins.   (Note: while we do use organic cane sugar in our gummy vitamins, we definitely believe that limiting intake of any sweeteners, especially High Fructose Corn Syrup, should be limited.  A serving of SmartyPants Gummy Vitamins for kids only has 5g of sugar which is 80% LESS sugar than in a glass of apple juice. )</li>
<li>Eco-Friendly:  We use only the most pure Omega 3 fish oil available in our kids gummy vitamins.  Our fish oil benefits your child and the environment.  The Omega 3 fish oil benefits provided by SmartyPants do not come at the expense of the environment for two very important reasons.  First, the fish oil harvested for SmartyPants Gummies for Kids is from small sustainable fish (sardines and anchovies), ensuring you are doing your part to help save the oceans while providing the best quality fish oil benefits for your child.  Also, the small fish harvested to make our organic multivitamins are low on the food chain, and do not carry the same mercury, PCB's, and other contaminants risk that fish further up the food chain, like tuna or salmon, do.  What’s more, each batch of eco-friendly fish oil that goes into these great tasting omega-3 supplements is cold filter vacuum processed to remove any existing contaminants, ensuring only the purest fish oil goes into our premium grade gummy vitamins.  Almost all other kids Omega 3 fish oil supplements use unsustainable tuna or salmon fish oil which is neither good for the oceans and can have risk of toxins.  Our fish oil benefits both your kids and the planet!</li>
<li><strong>Get Health, Give Health:</strong> We also believe in giving back.  So, for each bottle of SmartyPants Kids Gummy Vitamins you buy, we make a matching 1-for-1 nutrient grant donation to a child in need.  We believe good nutrition is a right for every child. You can read more about <a href="http://smartypantsvitamins.com/site/our-mission-get-health-give-health/">our Mission</a> to help all children be healthy.</li>
</ul>
So give your family the gift of health AND help another child in need with SmartyPants Kids Gummy Vitamins. The always great tasting gummy multivitamin made with Omega 3 fish oil, a full day’s supply of vitamin D3, organic cane sugar and only all natural colors and flavors. We also make <a href="http://smartypantsvitamins.com/site/smartypants-gummy-vitamins-for-grown-ups/">SmartyPants for GrownUps</a> since so many parents asked if we had gummy vitamins for them too! Plus, SmartyPants gummy Vitamins are made in California! SmartyPants Gummy Vitamins have been <a href="http://smartypantsvitamins.com/site/who-loves-smartypants-vitamins/">featured</a> in Oprah Magazine, People, OK Weekly, DailyCandy, Babble, and many others.
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