Water and fat soluble vitamins, their significance in metabolism, growth and development of children

Vitamins are organic molecules that are necessary for the child's body in small quantities to maintain proper metabolic function. Aim - to increase awareness of the biological and clinical effects of vitamins, their importance in metabolism, growth and development of children of various ages. Vitamins are essential nutrients that practically cannot be synthesized in the child's body in sufficient quantities for normal functioning, and therefore they must be obtained and regularly consumed with food. Vitamins are found in small amounts in animal and plant foods. The deficiency of each of the vitamins causes specific metabolic disorders in children. Vitamins have high biological activity in small doses, they show the properties of specific biological catalysts of metabolic processes, growth and development, affect various vital functions of the child's body. The need for vitamins increases markedly in children under conditions of intensive growth and development, with excessive physical exertion, stress and neuropsychological stress, following various elimination diets with food restrictions, after suffering acute infectious diseases, against the background of accompanying chronic somatic diseases, as a result taking certain medicines, living in unfavorable climatic or environmental conditions. It is important to monitor the content of each of the vitamins in the daily diet of children. The following types of vitamin metabolism disorders are known: avitaminosis, monohypovitaminosis, polyhypovitaminosis. hypo-, hyper- and dysvitaminosis. Conclusions. Vitamins as biological coenzymes activate a large number of physiological reactions, thus regulating growth and development, functions of various tissues, organs and systems. Vitamins improve adaptation and increase the resistance of the child's body to various adverse exogenous factors. It is very important that the child's body is not able to synthesize in sufficient quantity and store all vitamins for a long time, so a full set of vitamins should be received regularly in accordance with physiological needs. Timely screening and correction of vitamin deficiency in children can not only improve health, but also increase the quality of life. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.