Supplements for Kids: How to Choose Safe Pediatric Supplements With Dr. Shetal Amin
Supplements for Kids: How to Choose Safe Pediatric Supplements
Most parents I know have stood in the supplement aisle staring at rows and rows of brightly colored bottles, wondering the same thing:
Should I be giving my child this?
Supplements for kids are everywhere. They promise better focus, better sleep, calmer moods, stronger immunity, and even improved behavior. And when you are trying to make thoughtful, informed choices, it can feel overwhelming.
In this episode of Educated Parent, I sat down with Dr. Shetal Amin, a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist, to talk about how to evaluate pediatric supplements safely and how to approach these decisions with truly confident parenting .
Let’s break down what every parent should know.
Why Are So Many Parents Turning to Supplements for Kids?
It’s not surprising that supplements for kids are so popular.
They are:
Easy to access
Marketed as “natural”
Widely discussed in online parenting groups
Often framed as safer alternatives to prescription medication
For many families, trying pediatric supplements feels like a gentle first step. It can feel less intimidating than scheduling a psychiatric evaluation or starting medication.
But here’s the part we don’t always talk about:
The supplement industry is not regulated the same way as prescription medications are.
That means we, as parents, have to be thoughtful consumers.
And that’s where confident parenting comes in.
Important Reality: “Natural” Does Not Always Mean Safe
One of the biggest misconceptions around supplements for kids is that if something is natural, it must be safe.
That’s simply not true.
Unlike prescription medications:
Supplements are not FDA-regulated for safety and efficacy before hitting the market
Manufacturers do not have to prove effectiveness
Ingredient quality can vary
Potency can vary from bottle to bottle
Some pediatric supplements can even:
Interact with prescription medications
Worsen underlying medical conditions
Cause unexpected side effects
Before starting any supplement, it is always best to run it by your child’s pediatrician or specialist. That step alone is part of practicing confident parenting.
Strategy #1: Keep Supplements Simple
When it comes to supplements for kids, simple is safer.
Choose products that:
Contain one or two ingredients
Clearly list ingredient amounts
Avoid “proprietary blends”
Proprietary blends are especially concerning in pediatric supplements because they list a total combined amount of ingredients without telling you how much of each ingredient is included.
If your child reacts poorly, you won’t know which ingredient caused the problem.
Simple formulas allow you to:
Track dosing
Identify side effects
Adjust thoughtfully
That is what confident parenting looks like — making careful, informed decisions instead of reactive ones.
Strategy #2: Choose Reputable Sources
Not all supplements for kids are created equal.
Look for third-party testing from independent organizations such as:
USP (United States Pharmacopeia)
NSF International
ConsumerLab
These groups test pediatric supplements for:
Purity
Potency
Accuracy of labeling
Safety standards
Third-party certification helps ensure that what’s on the label is actually in the bottle.
When you choose reputable brands, you are practicing confident parenting by prioritizing quality and safety.
Strategy #3: Watch Out for “Snake Oil” Marketing
If a supplement promises dramatic results overnight, pause.
Many ads for supplements for kids claim they can:
Eliminate hyperactivity
Cure anxiety
Improve social skills
Increase height
Solve sleep problems instantly
Be skeptical.
Ask yourself:
Who is selling this product?
Are they financially benefiting?
Is the recommendation coming from someone with medical credentials?
Influencers and online testimonials are not substitutes for evidence.
When evaluating pediatric supplements, skepticism is not negativity. It is wisdom. It is part of confident parenting .
What About Delaying Treatment?
Sometimes parents try multiple supplements for kids before considering a formal evaluation.
The risk is not usually harm from the supplement itself.
The risk is delay.
For example, untreated ADHD can:
Impact on academic performance
Lower self-esteem
Increase anxiety and frustration
While exploring pediatric supplements, it is important not to ignore symptoms that may require a more comprehensive approach.
True confident parenting means staying open to all evidence-based options.
How to Think About Supplements for Kids in a Balanced Way
Here is the balanced takeaway:
Supplements are not inherently bad.
Prescription medication is not inherently bad.
Both require thoughtful evaluation.
Both deserve professional guidance.
When families feel pressured, either toward supplements or against medication, they lose clarity.
When families feel informed, supported, and empowered, that’s where confident parenting thrives.
Questions to Ask Before Starting Pediatric Supplements
If you are considering supplements for kids, ask yourself:
Have I discussed this with my child’s pediatrician?
Is the ingredient list simple and clear?
Has this product been third-party tested?
What evidence supports its use?
Am I being influenced by marketing claims?
Those questions alone can transform how you approach pediatric supplements.
Final Thoughts
There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to supplements for kids.
But there is a right way to approach the decision.
With education.
With collaboration.
With professional guidance.
With skepticism toward marketing.
That is what confident parenting looks like.
If you are unsure about the next steps for your child, reach out to your pediatrician or a qualified child mental health professional to talk through your concerns.
You do not have to navigate this alone.
And you absolutely deserve to feel confident in the choices you make for your child.
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CONNECT WITH DR. SHETAL AMIN:
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[00:00:00] Leah Clionsky: Welcome to the Educated Parent Podcast. I am your host, Dr. Leah Clionsky, and I am so excited about the topic we're going to discuss today because it is about supplements. Most of us give our kids supplements. How do we know if they're safe? How do we know how to fact-check them? And that's why I brought on my amazing guest, Dr. Shetal Amin
[00:00:24] Leah Clionsky: Hello Dr. Amin. She is a board-certified adult child and adolescent psychiatrist, and she's the founder of Creative Connection Psychiatry, a private practice dedicated to fostering healing and growth in the pediatric and adult populations. She also serves as the assistant training Director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Baylor College of College of Medicine, where she spearheads the trainees educational curriculum and she mentors the next generation of psychiatrists.
[00:00:53] Leah Clionsky: So she's amazing. She knows a hundred percent what she's talking about. And so I'm so thrilled that you are here today to share your wisdom with us. Dr. Amin,
[00:01:02] Dr. Shetal Amin: Thank you for having me. Very happy to be here and very excited to talk about this topic.
[00:01:07] Leah Clionsky: It's such an interesting topic when we get into this idea of should we be giving supplements to our children?
[00:01:14] Leah Clionsky: And the fact that people come to you as a medical doctor and ask you about this.
[00:01:20] Dr. Shetal Amin: Oh, absolutely. Um, I get asked quite a bit about supplements and new nutraceuticals in my practice. Um, and oftentimes, you know, the questions revolve around whether they're appropriate, you know, are they appropriate in addressing the issues that we're trying to manage? I don't, you know, there's not a lot of parents that want their kids on a prescribed medications, and I completely understand the reasoning why.
[00:01:42] Dr. Shetal Amin: And so it's only natural for a parent to be curious. You know, they're over the counter, they're readily accessible. There's lots of people who are openly talking about supplements in nutraceuticals, and so parents are naturally wondering about whether it's right for their child as well.
[00:01:57] Leah Clionsky: How many of the clients that you see are taking some sort of supplement or nutraceutical when they come to you? Is it a large amount of them?
[00:02:06] Dr. Shetal Amin: You know, it depends on whether it's a child or an adult. I feel my adults, yes, it's a good number. 'cause it's part of my intake assessment is I'm checking to see are you want anything prescribed? Um, are you taking anything over the counter? And I find that a lot of my adults do take something over the counter.
[00:02:23] Dr. Shetal Amin: Um, for my kids it's a little bit of a 50 50 mix. Some are just a little bit leery and want a little bit more information about it and others, absolutely. They went ahead and has tried something over the counter, um, and they still have questions about it, or maybe they're not seeing the results that they're looking for.
[00:02:40] Leah Clionsky: Do most people, would they rather take supplements than the prescribed medication If they could,
[00:02:46] Dr. Shetal Amin: Yes. And you know, there's several reasons why for this. I think first and foremost, supplements are easy to get ahold of. You know, you can go to any, um, CVS, Walgreens, any grocery store, and there's aisles after aisles of all sorts of supplement supplements addressing all sorts of medical and psychiatric concerns.
[00:03:06] Dr. Shetal Amin: Um, but ultimately I think. The big reason for why I think a lot of our patients lean towards supplements first is still because of stigma. I think there's always a concern about acknowledging that there's something psychiatric happening, and especially when it's your own child, it's when you go to a physician, you get a formal evaluation, you get a diagnosis, and you get started on treatment.
[00:03:29] Dr. Shetal Amin: That is acknowledgement that there is something there where it's easier to say, okay, I see symptoms. Let's just see if we can minimize some of that with something that I can easily get over the counter.
[00:03:40] Leah Clionsky: So the thought process is kind of, if I can give some supplements to make this better, then it's not really very serious.
[00:03:47] Dr. Shetal Amin: Not very serious. Exactly.
[00:03:50] Leah Clionsky: Yeah. We don't, this isn't really a medical issue. We'll just fix it with a vitamin or two and it's a chewy, gummy vitamins and my kid's happy to take it. And then we can just kind of move on with how
[00:04:00] Dr. Shetal Amin: Absolutely. And if you go to some of the mommy groups, um, online, there's conversations after conversations about, oh, my child does this too. I give him this nutraceutical or this supplement, and the symptoms are so much better and the teachers are happier, or they're no longer, you know, doing X, Y, and Z. So the conversations are out there.
[00:04:22] Dr. Shetal Amin: Um, and I think it just kind of comes down to. Maybe how severe the symptoms are, and if the parent doesn't necessarily think it's so bad, it's easy to just grab a supplement to see if the, if the, um, the behaviors of the symptoms can be corrected.
[00:04:37] Leah Clionsky: Do you think it's also related to just like distrust of the medical system? To some degree. I remember when I was a kid and there were so many children over diagnosed on A DHD medication and overly medicated.
[00:04:51] Leah Clionsky: And now there's almost this pushback of of kids who need more medication intervention and parents are so afraid, maybe 'cause they remember the Overmedicated kids from the past.
[00:05:01] Dr. Shetal Amin: There is definitely some of that. I've had my fair share of parents say that they shared similar symptoms to their child, um, and they were put on medications and they hated how they felt on it. They do not want that for their own children. And so there's been this reluctance to get them evaluated and started on treatment because they didn't wanna replicate that experience for their child.
[00:05:25] Dr. Shetal Amin: Um, I think just, you know, not to get on, you know, anything political, but there is kind of this growing, um, apprehension with the medical community. You know, there's kinda growing concerns about where are we getting our data from, um, are we not? Looking at more of the natural options that's, you know, they felt has been tried and true over the generations.
[00:05:50] Dr. Shetal Amin: You know, why lean towards something prescribed when perhaps there is something, um, that's on the natural side of life, you know, that we're not so concerned about side effects and or anything adverse happening to their child.
[00:06:02] Leah Clionsky: child.
[00:06:03] Leah Clionsky: Do you think that this sometimes harms kids, kids who would really benefit from just being put on a medication that would address their concerns?
[00:06:12] Dr. Shetal Amin: Well, I think in some cases it can delay treatment, you know, more than, more than anything. Um, not so much. I'm not so worried about the harm issue. I'm more worried about.
[00:06:20] Leah Clionsky: worried about
[00:06:22] Dr. Shetal Amin: Prolonging the concerns, um, because after a certain point, point in time, so for example, for A DHD, what I tend to see is after a certain point of time, if we are not addressing the symptoms.
[00:06:34] Dr. Shetal Amin: There are self-esteem concerns that come up. You know, the child start to see that they are not at the same par as their peers, that they are not learning the material as effectively or efficiently as you know, the their peers around them. That takes a toll on self-esteem, and when it starts to tap into the way they see themselves, that's a harder problem to manage at that point.
[00:06:57] Dr. Shetal Amin: Yeah.
[00:06:57] Leah Clionsky: Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about. I've seen this clinically a lot of times and we know that there is. A lot of overlap of anxiety and depression and self-esteem issues. Absolutely. In kids with. Untreated A DHD in academic settings for this very reason, and then they end up at Thriving Child Center and we end up helping them there and then referring them back to psychiatry.
[00:07:18] Leah Clionsky: You know, seeing what options there are for them that might make the process easier. I do think. I think it is really hard. To be a parent in these situations because you want the absolute best thing for your child. You want them to have the most positive outcomes, and you don't wanna harm them by doing something that is going to be too aggressive and hurtful.
[00:07:41] Leah Clionsky: Right. And I think the supplements feel somehow safer, even though anyone can be making them. And so in a lot of ways, they're not as safe. Yeah,
[00:07:51] Dr. Shetal Amin: Absolutely. And you know, a, the parent parents need that reassurance. You know, if they are looking at putting their child on a medication, whether it's a supplement or something prescribed, first and foremost, that parent does need a reassurance of this is what this supplement or a medication is for.
[00:08:09] Dr. Shetal Amin: Here's the dosing that you should probably start your child on, and here are the things that we wanna look out for in terms of side effects, um, et cetera, et cetera. When we are then potentially thinking about going up on the dosing, if we're not seeing any meaningful difference,
[00:08:25] Leah Clionsky: That's one of the wonderful things about you, Dr.
[00:08:27] Leah Clionsky: Amin, and many of the other wonderful child psych psychiatrists that I personally like to refer to is that there's a conservative approach where, you know, no one's interested in just pushing things on kids. So there you're conservatively evaluating the risks and the benefits working with families collaboratively.
[00:08:45] Leah Clionsky: And I like to tell families that so that they don't feel afraid to go to the psychiatry appointment 'cause they're afraid things will be pushed. And that's never something you would do.
[00:08:54] Dr. Shetal Amin: Absolutely no. The parents need to feel as if they have a say in all of this. I mean, it is their child. So my role is to give them the information that I have, um, give them the treatment recommendations that I feel would be in the best interest of their child, and we continue to have a conversation about what they feel comfortable pursuing.
[00:09:11] Leah Clionsky: Right. Exactly. And that's what makes your care incredible and why we love referring to you. Thank you. Yeah. And that's also how you're training the other psychiatrists at BCM and so. Absolutely. Yeah. It's really great. I think this is what people are really afraid about when they go to see psychiatry is exactly this.
[00:09:29] Leah Clionsky: They'll be forced into something.
[00:09:30] Dr. Shetal Amin: Right,
[00:09:31] Leah Clionsky: Yeah. When they go to psychology, they're, yeah, they're afraid they'll be forced. When they go to psychology, they're afraid that we don't know what we're doing and we won't be able to help them. So they have opposite fears. Right.
[00:09:41] Dr. Shetal Amin: right.
[00:09:43] Leah Clionsky: Well, now that we're talking about supplements, like as a parent, to be honest with you, I am not educated in supplements when I think would my child benefit from even a multivitamin?
[00:09:56] Leah Clionsky: To be honest with you, I don't know how to evaluate. Whether they're good or not, I don't know what would make something safe versus unsafe. I don't know how to tell what quality is. Could you walk us through three strategies for helping us figure out how to, how to figure this out on our own a little bit?
[00:10:17] Leah Clionsky: How we can go to the grocery store or CVS or Walgreens and be able to select something that is not going to cause harm to children.
[00:10:25] Dr. Shetal Amin: Sure, sure, sure. So the three strategies that we are going to discuss further is, the first one is that we wanna keep the supplements simple. The second strategy is going to be that I want to make sure, I want parents to make sure that the product is coming from a reputable source. And the third strategy is I want parents to be.
[00:10:46] Dr. Shetal Amin: Aware of what potentially may be the snake oil salesman.
[00:10:50] Leah Clionsky: Ooh. Yeah, that snake oil salesman. You see all the ads all over Instagram and TikTok. You know this, everything was a disaster. My child threw 30 tantrums a day, and then I give them the magic supplement and now they're fixed.
[00:11:04] Leah Clionsky: Right? Yeah. And when you're desperate, when you're desperate, you'll absolutely, yeah. Yeah. You can order it online@snakeoilsalesman.com.
[00:11:14] Dr. Shetal Amin: Absolutely.
[00:11:17] Leah Clionsky: Okay. So that first strategy, can you, can you give me some more information?
[00:11:22] Dr. Shetal Amin: Sure. You know, before I get into that, I, um, just wanted to preface real quick. So when I talk about a supplement, a nutraceutical, I'm often using those two words interchangeably. But technically speaking, a nutraceutical is a broad term for a food Tori product that offers health benefits beyond basic nutrition.
[00:11:42] Dr. Shetal Amin: Nutraceuticals can come in all sorts of forms, so you can find them as like extracts and concentrates. You can find them in combinations of like vitamins, minerals, botanicals, herbs, and so forth. So when I say the word supplement, I'm usually referring to like a nutraceutical that's either in a pill or a capsule or a liquid form.
[00:12:00] Dr. Shetal Amin: And you also wanted to clarify that unlike pharmaceuticals, so pharmaceuticals are prescribed to medications that are used to treat specific symptoms. Nutraceuticals are generally taken as like preventative measures, although nowadays, you know, we often see supplements marketed to address specific symptoms as well. Um, and then of course, before we get into the three, you know, my little soapbox, because I have to say this, you know, you do wanna run these supplements and nutraceuticals by your pediatrician. So if a parent or a guardian is considering giving a supplement to their child, if the child has a pediatrician or a specialist, kind of buy them.
[00:12:41] Dr. Shetal Amin: So natural doesn't always mean save, and parents need to know that the supplement industry is poorly regulated. It's not governed by the Federal Drug Administration, and actually no one else by that matter. And so what this means is that there's no requirement in demonstrate safety and efficacy before that product reaches the market.
[00:13:02] Dr. Shetal Amin: And every parent needs to remember that not all appro, not all supplements are appropriate for every child. So, for example, some supplements can worsen a child's underlying medical disorder, or it could potentially have some drug drug interaction, you know, with their prescribed medication. So as a rule of thumb, I say, look, if you wanna consider giving something to your kiddo, I think that's wonderful.
[00:13:24] Dr. Shetal Amin: I think that's fine, but go ahead and run it by the pediatrician or the medical provider to ensure that there's just no over concerns, um, or contraindications.
[00:13:32] Leah Clionsky: That makes so much sense. I think we all think, oh, if it's natural and it's in a gummy, it must be fine.
[00:13:38] Leah Clionsky: It
[00:13:38] Dr. Shetal Amin: Fine. Exactly. But you just never know. And you know, your, your child's pediatrician or specialist, they have a history with your kiddo. They are invested in your child. They wanna keep your child safe, and they will go ahead and give you that guidance that you're looking for with these supplements.
[00:13:53] Leah Clionsky: Yeah, absolutely. All right, I'm so glad that you clarified that for sure. So what is the first thing parents can do?
[00:14:00] Dr. Shetal Amin: So first and foremost, you wanna keep the supplements simple. Read the labels and stick with the supplement that has maybe just one or two ingredients if possible in them. This makes tracking dosages much easier and parents really should know how much of a substance they are giving their child. So, as an example, I get asked a lot of questions about skin aids.
[00:14:23] Dr. Shetal Amin: So treatments that help a child fall asleep, um, when their sleep routine is otherwise stable and appropriate. And there are tons of supplements on the market, um, to target sleep in the pediatric population, a few of them have about three, four, or even five ingredients in them. We, your child may not need all of that.
[00:14:43] Dr. Shetal Amin: So I usually tell parents, start with a supplement that has one ingredient and see how that goes. You can always layer treatment if needed. Like you can always add on another option if you feel that the first vitamin or mineral wasn't necessarily cutting it. And taking a supplement this way is incredibly helpful, especially if there's a side effect.
[00:15:04] Dr. Shetal Amin: So if your child takes a supplement, um, and poorly reacts to it, the parent's gonna know exactly what ingredient caused it and will avoid it thereafter. Um, the other issue that a parent should be cautious about are supplements that are made from what's called proprietary blends. So what that means is that the manufacturer has created their own combination of ingredients and will list that total amount of that combination on the label.
[00:15:32] Dr. Shetal Amin: So, proprietary blends can be deceptive because there's really no way of knowing how much each ev of each of those ingredients are actually in the supplement. And so I think we naturally tend to assume, at least I do, I naturally, um, tend to assume that each of the ingredients are represented in equal amounts.
[00:15:52] Dr. Shetal Amin: But the reality is just we don't know. Um, we just don't know. And we don't know if the most, maybe, if the most beneficial ingredient is present in the least amount. So if you can avoid, you know, these supplements that have proprietary blends, I, you should tell parents it's probably best to do so.
[00:16:09] Leah Clionsky: So. Yeah, that makes sense. It makes sense to keep it simple.
[00:16:13] Leah Clionsky: And I, I don't know if this is the same, remember I'm not a medical doctor, but I'm thinking about when my kids get sick and, and I'm told, give them. Give them Tylenol or Motrin, not give them DayQuil, which has a ton of things in it. A
[00:16:26] Dr. Shetal Amin: of other stuff. Yes. That kinda helps keep, um, the nose from running and it helps congestion and all this other stuff. But yes, there's other ingredients in there that unfortunately may keep them awake at night.
[00:16:38] Leah Clionsky: Oh, interesting. Yeah. Yeah. So it makes sense. It sounds like with especially pediatric medicine, you're simple, simple, simple, as much as you can. Absolute fantastic. All right. What else do I need to know?
[00:16:50] Dr. Shetal Amin: So for, I think that's it for the first one. Did you wanna know about moving on to the second topic? Okay. So the second thing that I really want my parents to know is that if they're picking a supplement, you really wanna make sure that the product is from a reputable source. Um, so if you're giving your child.
[00:17:09] Dr. Shetal Amin: Daily supplement. You wanna make sure that the quality is consistent. And the way to guarantee that the supplement is pure and consistently potent is to check to see if it's been third party tested for quality control. So oftentimes the manufacturers will have their own data, will have their own, um, because they do their own research.
[00:17:28] Dr. Shetal Amin: So they'll have their own information on their website showing their wonderful results about their products. However, independent. Third party organizations, you know, such as like Consumer Lab or US pharmacopia, or USP or NSF International, so the National Sanitation Foundation. These organizations have no financial stake in the products and provide unbiased information on what is exactly inside the.
[00:17:56] Leah Clionsky: the bottle.
[00:17:57] Dr. Shetal Amin: Um, what are these organizations testing for? They're checking for the products, security potency, and also for the safety. And so what parents can do is that they can go to these websites, um, if they're looking for a trustworthy supplement brand. What they can also do is to actually look on the bottle of the supplement to see if they have the certifications on the bottle.
[00:18:18] Dr. Shetal Amin: So for example, USP. So US Pharmacopia, their little logo. It's like this little circle with the letters USP in it. You could potentially find that emblem on various supplements. And what that means is that that particular supplement has been tested by USP and has passed their quality control standards, so a parent can feel better about purchasing that product.
[00:18:41] Dr. Shetal Amin: At least they feel a little bit more assured about the quality of the product that they're buying, and then potentially giving to their child.
[00:18:46] Leah Clionsky: child.
[00:18:48] Dr. Shetal Amin: Um, there's lots of stuff that come out on the market. Um, I feel there's just something new and it's something amazing that's coming out every couple of weeks, every couple of months.
[00:18:58] Dr. Shetal Amin: And so what I try to remind parents is that, look, you know, the supplement landscape is constantly changing. So what is important to keep tabs of these supplements? You know, check with these websites, see if there's updates, you know?
[00:19:11] Leah Clionsky: um, it's
[00:19:12] Dr. Shetal Amin: advisable just to ensure that the product you're giving your child still meets good, you know, fundamental standards.
[00:19:20] Leah Clionsky: That makes so much sense. Because if it's being tested by someone with no financial stakes, then there's no temptation. Right? Right. No temptation to edit the data. I mean, you can sometimes make data. Say what you wanted to say or tweak your results. And so there's no temptation to do that. And this is such a, you know, it's a billion dollar industry,
[00:19:41] Dr. Shetal Amin: Absolutely, absolutely. There's money to be made in the industry and it is being made. Um, but that also requires us to be a little bit more savvy about how we purchase our supplements and what, you know, supplements are gonna be in the best interest of your child.
[00:19:56] Leah Clionsky: of your child. Fantastic. And what's the third thing everyone
[00:20:00] Dr. Shetal Amin: Yeah, you wanna avoid those snake oil salesmen. It's okay to be skeptical. Look, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There's a lot of content out there. Um, there's content out on the internet, on social media. If you are a parent with a social media account, you'd likely come across ads or commercials for.
[00:20:25] Dr. Shetal Amin: Natural solutions to your child's health or behavioral concerns? I mean, I see them all the time on Instagram, on Facebook, and on TikTok. I see these products that claim to increase your child's height, um, to substantially reduce symptoms of hyperactivity, anxiety. I've seen products that even say that they can help with.
[00:20:45] Dr. Shetal Amin: Communication or maybe some of those social deficits that we see in certain developmental disorders. And so for a parent who may be seeking relief for their child, it's really hard to ignore these advertisements because of course they wanna see their child thrive, you know? Of course they want. To see their child improve, to see those symptoms, um, get better to see their child living their best life.
[00:21:11] Dr. Shetal Amin: But it's really important for the parent to look at the source of the recommendation and to ask, okay, who is selling the product and what's in it for them? And what I mean by that is, okay, if it's an influencer promoting a supplement. Consider whether they have the right education or even the right credentials to be able to speak on that product or, or you know, if the influencer is saying, Hey, I've tried the supplement and it's worked wonderfully for me, or I give the supplement to my child and look how much better they are, I think that's great, but dig a little deeper and see who or what is behind the product.
[00:21:55] Dr. Shetal Amin: Um. Because you, you know, you, you want to question how is this influencer benefiting by being the spokesperson? Oftentimes it's financial and that's okay. You know, that's kind of how the market works. But as long as you as a parent is okay with that, you still should be knowing. Mm-hmm.
[00:22:14] Leah Clionsky: right? Well, you don't even know if they gave it to their child.
[00:22:17] Dr. Shetal Amin: Right.
[00:22:18] Leah Clionsky: You don't know if they took it like you have no idea. Do you remember when that there was that big revelation on TikTok not too long ago, and everyone came out? Not everyone, but many TikTok influencers came out and said, I lied on TikTok about this.
[00:22:34] Leah Clionsky: I lied on TikTok about that. Like it's absolutely, it is easy to lie.
[00:22:40] Dr. Shetal Amin: It's awful. It really is because you have people watching these, um, short clips with, um, kids who are really struggling and I think it's awful to take advantage of parents in that situation. Um, and it really does come down to that influencer was probably, you know, gaining something financially from it.
[00:23:00] Dr. Shetal Amin: And that was the motivation. So as a parent check, you know, check to see what's in it for these influencers by being the spokesperson and look. Even as a medical provider or a clinic, you know, there's lots of these wellness clinics here in Houston, um, the wellness spas and facilities. Um, and I've had parents come to me and say that they've taken their child to some of these places and they were, um, you know, the tactics were aggressive.
[00:23:27] Dr. Shetal Amin: You know, they were aggressively encouraged to purchase a specific supplement. And oftentimes these. Supplements are expensive. You know, they come at a price point, and so you also have to question that as well. Like, you know, why? Why the aggressiveness? Why the pushing tactics? Is there a financial interest in the sale?
[00:23:47] Dr. Shetal Amin: And oftentimes there are.
[00:23:49] Leah Clionsky: Yeah.
[00:23:49] Dr. Shetal Amin: So I really do feel, look, a parent should never have to feel pushed. There should never be feelings of shame or guilt about their decision to purchase a supplement for their child. And if they are feeling that way, that's a red flag for me.
[00:24:05] Leah Clionsky: Right, exactly. Well, I feel already way more equipped to purchase supplements for myself and for my children when I feel like that's appropriate and I so appreciate you.
[00:24:18] Leah Clionsky: Coming on and clarifying that for everyone who's listening to Educated Parent that, that's so incredibly helpful. Can you tell everyone where to find you if they have these questions, if they realize that they are exploring options for medication management, what's the best way? Absolutely.
[00:24:36] Dr. Shetal Amin: So you can easily go to my website at creative connection psychiatry, um.com. Um, through my website. You can send me a message or you can give me a call and we can definitely pursue, um. An appointment that way as well. I get lots of parents who come and they have questions about the supplements on the market, and what I tell them is, give me your questions.
[00:25:02] Dr. Shetal Amin: Give me the particular supplement that you have in mind. Let's go over the ingredients in them. I wanna give you information about the data that we have, and realistically, would this be appropriate for your child or not? You know.
[00:25:16] Leah Clionsky: know, I
[00:25:16] Dr. Shetal Amin: Go through the whole assessment in terms of the medical diagnosis, what else is the child on?
[00:25:22] Dr. Shetal Amin: First and foremost, you know, I wanna make sure that your child stays safe. Um, and yeah, you know, I wanna give you the treatment recommendations that you're looking for.
[00:25:32] Leah Clionsky: right? You really value them being able to make informed decisions.
[00:25:36] Dr. Shetal Amin: Absolutely. And I'll circle back to this, you know, regardless if patients are coming to me or not. If a parent has any questions about a supplement, run it by your child's pediatrician or specialist for guidance. Most physicians, look, we are not antis supplement, but we are firmly ProSAFE and pro evidence and just are more than happy to have these conversations with our patients.
[00:26:00] Leah Clionsky: Absolutely. Yep. That's why you're here on Educated Parent, where we're trying to give evidence-based solutions for parents, and that's why if you're listening to Educated Parent, that's exactly what you want from this.
[00:26:12] Leah Clionsky: Thank you again, Dr. Amin. I've so loved having you on the show, and for everybody listening, you can find all of her links and resources in the show notes, and I will talk to you again next week.