Mike Karrmann, age 13, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for his question:

What do vitamins do?

Early in the 1900s, the discovery of vitamins stirred up a l.ot of excitement. People imagined that tiny traces of these vital substances could solve just about every nutritional problem. Naturally they were disappointed    and for several decades the subject was some¬what neglected. Now we are interested again. Meantime, researchers have learned a lot about the true role of vitamins in our daily diet  ¬enough to know that we need much more research into the subject.

Your vitamin requirements are less than one bite of your daily diet. But a lack of these vital food elements causes miserable health problems and prolonged vitamin deficiencies lead to ghastly diseases that may be fatal. Vitamins'do not provide the body with fuel or building materials. But without their help, proteins and other basic foods cannot provide these things either.

Actually, the vital vitamins work behind the scenes. The body needs them to perform a multitude of different biological processes. Often a single vitamin has several functions that seem unrelated. For example, vitamin A works with basic foods to maintain healthy skin and without it, night vision deteriorates. It also plays a role in maintaining tissues of the nervous, breathing and digestive systems and without it, our foods fail to build healthy bones and teeth.

Vitamin C also is needed to maintain healthy bones and teeth. And this most dramatic vitamin seems to play some role or other in almost every chemical process that goes on in the body. Apparently it is changed or used up by these activities    which is why we need a generous helping of vitamin C every day of our lives.

Vitamin B turned out to be a complex assortment of several vitamins, each having one or more chemical functions with  basic foods. For .example, thiamin is needed to release energy in the metabolism of carbohydrates. It also.helps the heart and nervous system. A prolonged shortage of vital B1 leads to the dreadful deficiency disease called beriberi. Unless traces of vitamins B6 and B12 are present in the daily diet, the body cannot maintain healthy red cells.

At present, nutrition researchers have identified about two dozen different vitamins. But everybody expects that still more will be discovered. In most cases, a whole book is needed to explain the various mysterious functions of this or that vitamin. However, though a great deal already is known about vitamins, some experts suspect that most of their functions are still unknown.

Meantime, other experts disagree on the daily dosage of vitamins needed to maintain normal health. Some still advocate the tiny traces needed to prevent diastrous deficiencies, other favor larger doses to ensure maximum good health. Some favor extra vitamin supplements, others say that a wholesome diet contains all the vitamins the body needs. One thing is certain. More, a lot more, sensible research is needed into the vital subject of vitamins.