The importance of vitamin A and toddlers

Vitamin A plays an important role in vision and the immune system. Because this vitamin is in lots of everyday foods, it’s really easy to make sure your toddler gets the right amount to help with all their incredible development.

Lots of the yummy foods your toddler’s already eating are most likely packed with vitamin A – brightly coloured foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, apricots, mangoes, and dark green leafy veg such as broccoli are all great sources of this essential vitamin. Full-fat milk is also a good source. 

If your toddler isn’t feeling all that adventurous, there are lots of great ways to help them enjoy delicious vitamin A-rich foods. Mealtimes can be a chance for games that are a lot more exciting than pretending every forkful is an aeroplane. You could try making animal shapes with different bits of food take a broccoli floret for the body, add 4 mini carrots for legs and a cherry tomato for the head and you’ve got a colourful sheep! Your toddler will have great fun imagining what the food-creature is called and what noise it makes!

• Homemade tomato sauce poured over pasta is tasty, and even more nutritious if you add some cooked, chopped carrots and broccoli.
• There are so many things you can do to make carrots appealing – try grating them or chopping them into matchsticks for your toddler to dip into houmous. 

For lots of ideas and inspiration for great tasting, healthy food for your growing toddler, take a look at the delicious toddler recipes on our website. You’ll also find more advice and tips on toddler nutrition in our toddler feeding articles.