Research
Adherence
Unsupervised ingestion of micronutrient supplements, particularly multivitamins and iron, is a major cause of emergency department visits in young children (≤4 years).
Keep all supplements, especially multivitamins and iron, in child-resistant containers and out of reach of young children. Treat them with the same caution as prescription medications.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Most emergency department visits for unsupervised child ingestions of supplements involved a micronutrient product (61.9%; CI, 56.5%−67.3%). The specific product categories most commonly implicated were multivitamins (33.6%; CI, 29.0%−38.3%), iron (11.8%; CI, 8.6%−15.0%)...
Why this rating
Based on nationally representative surveillance data.
Source
Emergency Department Visits for Adverse Events Related to Dietary Supplements
Andrew I. Geller et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2015
DOI 10.1056/nejmsa1504267
cross_sectional · n=3667Cited 490×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Dietary supplements, particularly weight loss and energy products containing herbals or complementary nutritionals, are a significant cause of emergency department visits for cardiovascular adverse events (palpitations, chest pain, tachycardia) in young adults aged 20-34.Good
- Micronutrient supplements (specifically multivitamins, iron, calcium, and potassium) are a leading cause of emergency department visits due to swallowing problems (choking/dysphagia) in adults aged 65 and older.Good
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