The nutrients Indian children most commonly miss

What India’s national nutrition survey actually found in children aged 5 to 9 — why these nutrients matter, and where they come from.

Updated October 2026 · 5 min read

When India measured nutrient levels in children directly — through the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS, 2016–18) — the shortfalls it found were not exotic. They clustered around a small, ordinary handful of nutrients. These are the ones worth your attention.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the long vitamin lists printed on children’s products. The useful truth is narrower. In Indian children aged 5 to 9, the survey found the most common shortfalls in folate, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin B12, iron and zinc. It also found something reassuring about iodine, which we come to below.

Folate and vitamin B12

Folate and B12 work together in making healthy red blood cells. Folate was the most common shortfall the survey found in this age group. B12 is needed for healthy nerves, normal blood formation and normal energy metabolism, and its natural dietary sources are almost entirely animal foods — which makes it one of the harder nutrients to get in a vegetarian household.

Where they come from

Folate: dals, chana and rajma, dark leafy greens, and fortified foods. B12: milk, curd, paneer and eggs provide some; fully plant-based diets provide essentially none without fortified foods or supplements.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is needed for normal vision. It is one of the less talked-about shortfalls, and one of the larger ones the survey found.

Where it comes from

Milk and dairy fat, eggs, and — as carotenes the body converts — orange and dark-green produce such as carrots, pumpkin, mango, papaya and spinach.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and is part of normal bone development. The paradox in India is that despite abundant sunlight, low vitamin D is common in children — indoor lifestyles, sun avoidance and darker skin, which makes vitamin D in sunlight more slowly, all play a part.

Where it comes from

Sunlight on skin, a small number of foods (fatty fish, egg yolk, fortified foods), and supplementation where a doctor advises it. Diet alone rarely covers it.

Iron, and what anaemia really means

Iron carries oxygen in the blood and supports normal energy. Plant (non-haem) iron from dals and greens is absorbed less efficiently than the iron in meat, which matters in vegetarian diets — pairing it with vitamin C helps.

One thing worth knowing: anaemia in Indian children is not only about iron. Research using the same survey found that shortfalls of folate and B12 account for a large share of it too. That is one reason a doctor’s test is so much more useful than a guess.

Where it comes from

Meat and eggs (most easily absorbed); dals, beans, dark leafy greens and fortified foods (less easily absorbed — a squeeze of lemon helps). More iron is not better than enough; supplementation should follow a doctor’s guidance, ideally after a blood test.

Zinc

Zinc is a mineral the body uses in many everyday processes and does not store in large amounts, so a steady supply from food matters.

Where it comes from

Milk, curd and paneer, dals and beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

Iodine: the good news

Iodine is not the problem it used to be in India. The survey found iodine levels in children aged 5 to 9 were adequate — salt iodisation worked. Keep using iodised salt at home, and don’t let anyone sell you iodine as the answer to a problem your child probably doesn’t have.

A handful of nutrients do most of the work. Knowing which ones is most of the job.

What to do with this

Two things. First, build the everyday diet with these in mind — dairy daily, dals and greens with a little vitamin C, colourful fruit and vegetables, iodised salt, and safe time outdoors. Second, if you are concerned, ask your doctor to check rather than supplementing on a guess: these can all be measured, and more is not always better (iron and vitamin D in particular have safe upper limits).

Ours is set against India’s ICMR-NIN 2020 values for children 4–6 and 7–9; declared amounts stay under 100% of the RDA where one exists, and every amount is printed on the pack. It goes alongside home food and a doctor’s advice — never instead of them.

This article is general educational information, not medical advice. Do not begin supplementation without consulting your paediatrician — several of these nutrients have safe upper limits.
For children aged 4 to 9. For ages 4–5, use only under medical advice of a physician or certified dietician or nutritionist. Not for infants under 12 months. Made in Australia. The first ingredient is Australian organic A2 protein milk from grass-fed cows. Organic here means the farms — pasture, herd and milk — are certified organic in Australia. The finished sachet is not certified organic, because the vitamins, minerals and DHA we add are not. We would rather tell you that than imply it.