Children and Vegetarian/Vegan Diets

"When my children were born, I was referred to a nutritionist because we were vegan, but when I went to the appointment I knew more than she did."
"I know how important it is to get protein, calcium, iron and vitamin B12. You can get these plentifully in plant-based foods -- so we have lots of stir fries, with tofu, which is excellent for calcium and protein, or spaghetti bolognese with a soya mince, and they have soya milk that's fortified with calcium and things like avocado and nut butters for healthy fats."
"But we also give a multi-vitamin supplement, too, just to make sure."
"I think if you compared their diets to an average two- or six-year-old, they'd probably be healthier."
"There's a lot of scare-mongering about it [plant-based diet for children], and we're always told that vegans need to be especially careful, but I find that vegans are actually more clued up about nutrition than most."
Karrie McCulloch, 32, mother of two, Glasgow, Scotland

"My children suffer from eczema and asthma and it really helped [switching to a vegan diet] -- you could see a change in their skin."
"You do need to do your research, especially with  young children, and be prepared to be inventive -- you don't want to be a junk food vegan."
Lizzy Tigh, artist, mother of four, Herefordshire, Great Britain

"Until fairly recently, we tended to advise against vegan diets for babies. It can be done, but just not on a whim. Children need to have supplements, for example for vitamin B12, as they won't get their full requirement from food."
"Vegetables contain a lot of fibre so if a child is filling up on these, they might not end up consuming enough high calorie, high protein foods."
Mary Fewtrell, professor of paediatric nutrition, University College London

Greater numbers of people than ever are turning away from meat-based diets and adopting a vegetarian lifestyle, citing various reasons, from environmental to a refusal to eat other animals to a concern for living more healthfully. Exit meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, all healthful sources in moderation of quality protein. Quinoa, nut butters, chia seeds and soy products are introduced to the palate and valued for their special qualities. People who make these adjustments to their lifestyles are increasingly including those choices for their children from babyhood up.

Raising alarm from some nutritional experts and pediatricians who warn that "clean eating" trends could be responsible for nutritional deficiencies being seen in children. Clearing all gluten-based foods and dairy-derived foods from a diet can be fraught with problems. Researchers from France have announced their findings that non-dairy milks are in fact dangerous for babies of parents who choose to replace breast or formula milk with an alternative before their child has reached the age of one. Children studied in the June-released research were found to be suffering from malnutrition.

Reports of children raised on vegan diets being admitted to hospital suffering from malnutrition have been common in recent years. Children throughout their optimum growing years have special requirements in their diet to promote linear growth, weight gain and brain development. Nutrition in the first two years of life has a vital role for growth, a well established scientific-health reality which also plays into later life disease onset.

Vegan organisations have responded that raising children vegan isn’t about diet, but about ‘teaching them compassion’.(Picture: Getty)

Even so, experts feel that with adequate advice and careful planning it is entirely possible to safely raise children on vegetarian and vegan diets. With the proliferation of readily available information, including on the National Health Service website in Britain, and other reliable sites throughout North America sponsored by government health services and university medical colleges health education sites, parents can be educated on best practices for wholesome outcomes for their children's diets.

Where alarm bells ring is with the introduction of "clean eating" which is to say the restriction or elimination of foods containing gluten and dairy, for children. A good many people have succumbed to the appeal of celebrities and bloggers and food writers claiming the benefits in health to be gained by eschewing gluten and dairy, citing 'intolerance', when none exists save for people who legitimately suffer from celiac disease, a very small number of people who have been diagnosed by a medical professional and advised to avoid gluten.

Vegan diets could be damaging to small children’s health, nutritionists have warned. (Picture: Getty)

"We're certainly seeing adult trends in nutrition and food exclusion starting to translate to children."
"If you're cutting out something like gluten, you're cutting out a huge number of foods, which is going to make life hard."
"We're seeing a rise in true allergy and a rise in parental anxiety -- which corresponds with adults diagnosing themselves with things like gluten intolerance. But we would never recommend excluding anything without good medical reasons."
"There's a paradox where we're not picking up the right children, but also inappropriately cutting out milk in the wrong children."
"There are all these nutrition noises in the back of your head, that you might have read online or heard at the antenatal group. Lots of these symptoms can be quite normal, but people are not getting the right advice and are self-diagnosing."
"Eating should be enjoyable and sociable, and anxiety is very infectious. If they're having things whipped out of their hands, what will that do to their wider relationship with food?"
Lucy Upton, pediatric dietitian, Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, spokesperson, British Dietetic Association

Little protein can lead to stunted growth, while too much fibre can cause children to feel full too quickly, the nutritionists also warn (Picture: Getty)

A third of British parents believe, according to a 2015 study by allergy specialists, that their child has a food allergy, yet only one in 20 children would pass a clinical diagnosis. Researchers found as well, that among parents in affluent areas, allergies were more likely to be declared by parents concerned with the welfare of their children. Cow's milk protein allergy is extremely difficult to diagnose, affecting up to four percent of children and parents, anxious to relieve their children of symptoms concerning them claim improvement as soon as a dairy-free alternative was given them.

Statistics provided by the NHS indicate that formula prescriptions treating babies with cow's milk allergy rose by close to 500 percent in the last decade, a situation interpreted through parents looking for information on line. Lucy Upton recommends that parents seek medical advice prior to cutting any major food group from their child's diet, that a thorough professional medical history be taken of allergy in the family: "If you're not sure, you can try putting them on a milk-free diet for four weeks to see if matters improve."

How to safely raise your child vegan

• When cooking for your children, use unsweetened fortified soya milk. This contains as much calcium as cows’ milk and a similar amount of protein.
• To ensure they’re getting enough protein, provide them with beans, chickpeas, lentils, soya mince, fortified soya yoghurt and tofu.
• The Department of Health also recommends daily vitamin A, C and D supplementation for all children aged six months to five years

Vegetarianism as a lifestyle choice is becoming more popular among Canadian families. A 2002 survey (1) in Canada revealed that 4% of adults claimed to be vegetarian. Approximately 2% of six- to 17-year-olds in the United States are described as vegetarians, and approximately 0.5% of this age group professes to be strictly ‘vegan’ (2). A variety of influences are acknowledged by vegetarians including concern for the environment, long-term health benefits, religious beliefs and economic concerns (3,4). In addition, the influence of a diverse ethnic population now seen in North America has had some effect (5). Restaurants and the retail food industry have responded to this interest by offering a great variety of products.

A PubMed search (1980 to 2008) using the key words “children”, “adolescents”, “vegetarian diets”, “growth” and “nutritional problems” was conducted on this topic.

The concept that a well-balanced vegetarian diet can provide for the needs of a growing child and adolescent is supported by Canada’s Food Guide (6), the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada (7), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (8). There is sufficient evidence from well-developed studies (9–14) to conclude that children and adolescents grow and thrive well on vegetarian diets that are well designed and supplemented appropriately.

However, certain components of these diets and some required nutrients may be in short supply and need specific attention. This is particularly true in the case of strictly vegan diets and other very restrictive diets in which significant medical consequences could result from inattention to nutrient needs. The present statement highlights some of these areas and recommends appropriate interventions.

M Amit, Canadian Paediatric Society, Community Paediatrics Committee 

US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health