Flintstones Chewable Vitamins

History

Flintstones Chewable Vitamins are supplemental multivitamins for children based on the animated sitcom The Flintstones. They were introduced in 1968 by Miles Laboratories and taste faintly like candy. Miles Laboratories was acquired by Bayer in 1979.

The vitamins are one of the most successful Flintstones products.^[1] Some advertisements have been under heavy rotation without being related to The Flintstones. Their jingles of "We are Flintstone kids!" and "Ten million strong and growing!" (composed by Martin O'Donnell)^[2] has reached fame through the heavy circulation of advertisements.

The vitamins can be purchased in pharmacies, grocery stores, and on the Internet. They feature pills in the shapes of the following characters: Fred Flintstone, Wilma Flintstone, Pebbles Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Betty Rubble, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Dino, and The Great Gazoo.^[3] For over twenty years, Betty was not included as one of the vitamins. However, after a grassroots campaign and the results of a Bayer telephone poll came in favor of including Betty, the character was added to the lineup, replacing the Flintstone car.^[4]

Available Products

Flintstones Chewable Vitamins are currently available in six variations:^[5]

• Flintstones Complete
• Flintstones with Iron
• Flintstones Plus Omega-3 DHA
• Flintstones Plus Immunity Support
• Flintstones Plus Bone Building Support
• My First Flintstones

Flintstones Complete

Flintstones Complete comes in three forms: chewable, gummy and sour gummy.^[6]

It is designed for children 2 years of age and older. Flintstones Complete has a high supplementation of iron, iodine, vitamin D and vitamin E. Iron is supplemented because children between one to three years old are at risk for iron deficiency anemia due to their rapid growth. Flintstones Complete supplements iodine because it is essential for thyroid hormone synthesis and general immune function. Vitamin D is necessary for the maintenance and growth of bones in children. Vitamin D deficiency is a concern for infants, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. This is because infants often have very limited exposure to sunlight, which is the main source of endogenous Vitamin D production. Vitamin D deficiency can result in rickets, a disease in which bones become soft and pliable. Vitamin E is a potent anti-oxidant in the body. Vitamin E deficiencies leads to neuromuscular, vascular and reproductive abnormalities. ^[7]

The chewable form of Flintstones Complete contains higher amounts of vitamins and minerals than the gummy version. As well, the chewable form has a larger variety of vitamins than the gummy version. The chewable form, unlike the gummy version, contains: Vitamins B1 (thiamin), B2 (riboflavin), Niacin, Calcium, Iron, Copper and Selenium.^[6]

Flintstones with Iron

Flintstones with Iron has a similar vitamin profile as Flintstones Complete gummy version. The iron content meets 75% of the Daily Value of iron for children over 2 years of age.^[6]

Flintstones Plus Immunity Support

Flintstones Plus Immunity Support has a similar vitamin profile as Flintstones Complete gummy version. However, Flintstones Plus Immunity Support provides 250mg of Vitamin C, which far exceeds the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for children.^[6] The RDA of vitamin C for children 1 - 3 years of age is 15mg; 4 - 8 years of age is 25mg; 9 - 14 years of age is 45mg. The dosage of Vitamin C in one tablet of Flintstones Plus Immunity Support Vitamin C is still below the tolerable upper intake levels (UL). The UL for children 1-3years of age is 400mg; 4-8years of age is 650mg; 9-11 years of age is 1200mg. Parents should not give their child more than the recommended dose of Flintstones Plus Immunity Support because they can easily exceed their child's UL for vitamin C. This can lead to adverse effects, such as diarrhoea and kidney stones.^[7]

Vitamin C is one of the most common supplements used in North America. It promotes resistance to infection through an upregulation of inflammatory processes, leukocyte activity, and improved integrity of mucous membranes.^[7]

Vitamin Supplementation in Today's Society

Multivitamin use has rapidly increased over the past few decades.^[8] The Slone Survey found that 56% of children under 12 years old take medications in a given week. Multivitamins were found to be the most prevalent medication taken in children 2 years of age and older.^[9] With the widespread increase in fortification of foods, the remedial effects of multivitamins have been questioned. There is growing concern that the highly fortified North American diet may result in persons exceeding dietary reference intakes, which can lead to adverse side-effects. ^{[8] [10]} Rogovik et al. ^[10] conducted a meta-analysis of vitamin use in the North American population. Their study concluded that some vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, folate and niacin) should be classified as over-the-counter. They suggest that vitamin labels include information regarding possible toxicities, dosing, recommended upper limits and drug interactions.

Notes and references

1. ^ [1] Flintstones at the Museum of Broadcast Communication. URL accessed on February 28, 2007.
2. ^ [2] Martin O'Donnell bio. URL accessed on March 1, 2007.
3. ^ Flintstones Vitamins–The Leading Brand Moms Trust and Kids Love!
4. ^ "Bayer to add Betty Rubble to Flintstones Vitamins". Boca Raton News (via Associated Press). 1995-10-21. 
5. ^ [3] Flintstones - Our Products. URL accessed on November 8, 2011.
6. ^ ^{a b c d} [4] Flintstones Complete Chewables. URL accessed on November 8, 2011.
7. ^ ^{a b c} Mahan, K.L. & Escott-Stump, S. (Ed.). (2008). Krause's Nutrition Therapy. Missouri: Saunders Elsevier
8. ^ ^{a b} NIH. (2006). NIH state-of-the-science conference statement on multivitamin/mineral supplements and chronic disease prevention. NIH Consensus State of the Science Statements, 23, 1-30.
9. ^ Vernacchio, L., Kelly, J.P., Kaufman, D.W., & Mitchell, A.A. (2009). Medication use among children <12 years of age in the United States: Results from the Slone survey. Pediatrics, 124, 446-454. doi:10.1542/peds.2008-2869
10. ^ ^{a b} Rogovik, A.L., Vohra, S., & Goldman, R.D. (2009). Safety considerations and potential interactions of vitamins: should vitamins be considered drugs? Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 44, 3110324. doi:10.1345/aph.1M238

External links

• Flintstones at the Museum of Broadcast Communication
• Flintstones Vitamins website with nutrition information
• Flintstones Vitamins Canadian website

This drug article relating to the gastrointestinal system is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Vitamins The Flintstones Gastrointestinal system drug stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР Chris Lewis (Australian rules footballer) Sodium-calcium exchanger Look at other dictionaries: The Flintstones — This article is about the television show. For the film adaptation, see The Flintstones (film). For the remake, see Seth MacFarlane#The Flintstones. The Flintstones Title screen from Seasons 1–2 in color. Genre …   Wikipedia The Flintstones (film) — The Flintstones Theatrical film poster by Drew Struzan Directed by Brian Levant Prod …   Wikipedia Dino (The Flintstones) — Dino The Flintstones character Dino figurine with Fred Firs …   Wikipedia Pebbles Flintstone — The Flintstones character Pebbles Flintstone (left) and Bamm Bamm Rubble, as infants. First appearance …   Wikipedia The Flintstone Kids — Genre Animation Directed by Art Davis Don Lusk Carl Urbano Rudy Zamora Voices of …   Wikipedia Pebbles cereal — Fruity Pebbles Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles are brands of breakfast cereal introduced by Post Cereals in 1971[1] featuring characters from the animated series The Flintstones. Cocoa Pebbles contains chocolate flavored crisp rice cereal bits,… …   Wikipedia The Flintstone Comedy Show (1980) — Genre Animation Comedy Directed by Ray Patterson George Gordon Rudy Zamora Voices of Henry Corden Mel Blanc Jean Vander Pyl …   Wikipedia Dino: World Premiere Toons — Format Animated Directed by Joseph Barbera Voices of Stay Out! Henry Corden Frank Welker Jean Vander Pyl The Great Egg Scape Frank Welker Russ …   Wikipedia Martin O'Donnell — at the release of Halo 3 in Bellevue, Washington Martin Marty O Donnell (born May 1, 1955)[1][2] …   Wikipedia Betty Rubble — Infobox character colour = #DEDEE2 colour text = name = Betty Rubble series = The Flintstones caption = Betty Rubble first = last = creator = Hanna Barbera portrayer = Various gender = Female family = children = Bamm Bamm Rubble spouse = Barney… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”