Why do your kids need Vitamin A rich foods? Vitamin A is required for vision, gene transcription, boosting immune function, and great skin health. Children who are vitamin deficient are not only prone to night blindness and completely impaired vision, but also have compromised immunity making them susceptible to all kinds of infections. Excessive intake of Vitamin A can be harmful too, causing jaundice, nausea, loss of appetite, irritability, vomiting, and even hair loss.

Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

To help you strike a balance between insufficient and excess intake of the vitamin, given below is the per day RDA for children.

Food Sources of Vitamin A

When we talk Vitamin A rich foods, it also includes carotene/carotenoids rich foods, as the different carotenes (Provitamin) are precursors of the vitamin. Animal foods like egg yolk, milk, and organ meat are high in vitamin A. Vegetarian sources include brightly colored fruits and vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables.

Given below is a list of the top 10 food sources of vitamin A, where good sources like red chili pepper have not been listed as they don not suit the children's palate.

Top 10 Vitamin A Rich Foods

1. Liver: Pork, lamb, chicken, turkey or beef are packed with Vitamin A. Turkey liver is the best source providing 75333 IU per 100 gram serving. The commonly consumed liver pate contains 429 IU vitamin A per tablespoon!
2. Sweet Potato: This brightly colored vegetable can provide 19218 IU of vitamin A per 100 gram serving that is 21909 in a medium sized sweet potato. 
3. Carrots: These can be cooked or consumed raw in the form of salads or juices. 100g carrots can give 16706 IU of vitamin A (2096 / baby carrot)
4. Dark Green Leafy Vegetables: Green vegetables are a perfect accompaniment to any dish as creamed vegetables, salad or steamed veggies. Kale is the richest source (15376 IU/ 100g), followed by turnip Greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, spinach, and collards.
5. Butternut Squash: Tasty to eat owing to its nutty and sweet flavor, 100g of baked squash contains 11155 IU of vitamin A.
6. Dried Herbs: Incorporate-able in a variety of recipes dried herbs like parsley, basil, dill, marjoram, and oregano are packed with vitamin A.
7. Lettuce: Darker the lettuce leaves, higher is the vitamin content. Red and Green Leaf lettuces provide 7492 IU vitamin A per 100 gram serving, and Iceberg lettuce only provides 502 IU/100g. 
8. Dried Apricots: Rich in carotenes, dried apricots contain 144 IU vitamin A per dried apricot.
9. Cantaloupe: Yellow and orange melons contain 2334 IU of vitamin A in a medium sized wedge. 
10. Egg Yolk: Egg yolks are an incredible source of vitamin A (245 IU /yolk), and they do not cause allergic reactions like egg white.

Here is a great carrot salad to get you started with, for more recipes browse through our Healthy Recipes section.

Note: Children, especially ones under 2 yrs are prone to food sensitivity and allergy. Introduce any new food slowly and cautiously. If you are aware of you child's food allergy avoid the any food that contains that particular allergen completely.

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