Excerpt from http://www.scienzavegetariana.it/rub..._diet_en.html:
"If you go to a gathering of vegans, you may notice the children. They often provide glowing testimony to the fact that vegan children can be healthy, grow normally, be extremely active, and (we think) smarter than average. Of course it takes time and thought to feed vegan infants and children. Ideally, all parents, whether vegan or not, should be thinking carefully about what their children eat. The years from birth to adolescence are the years when eating habits are set, when growth rate is high, and to a large extent, when the size of stores of essential nutrients such as calcium and iron are determined.
In this lecture, I shall examine the health benefits of vegan diets for children, address potential concerns, present information on key nutrients, and provide guidelines for feeding vegan infants and children.
The number of vegans in the UK today is estimated at 0.5% (1) but we do not know how many of these are children. In the US, a poll in 2000 commissioned by The Vegetarian Resource G roup found that about 0.5% of 6 to 17 year olds are vegan - they do not eat meat, fish, poultry, dairy products or eggs (2). Meat consumption is falling in all socio-economic groups: 14% of 6 month old children never eat meat (Office of National Statistics 1995) and meat only provides about 0.5 mg iron in the daily diets of children aged 18-30 months which is less than 7% of the recommended intake of 6.9 mg per day (National Diet and Nutrition Survey. Children aged 1.5 to 4.5 years. Volume 1. Report of the diet and nutrition survey 1995 HMSO London) .
Health Benefits of Vegan Diets
Several studies have examined the nutrient intakes of vegan children. One study of British school-age children found that they had higher intakes of fibre and that intakes of all vitamins and minerals studied (with the exception of calcium) compared to those of meat-eating children (3).
I detail below the most recent study on the dietary intakes of vegan children compared to children on omnivorous diets.
[Go to http://www.scienzavegetariana.it/rub...t_diet_en.html to see the table!]
As you will see, with the exception of vitamin B12 and calcium, the intake of essential nutrient s was similar or greater in the vegan children than those reared on mixed diets. Protein intake for the vegan and omnivorous children was the same.
This was only a small study and unfortunately no studies have been carried out since this one in 1992. However, Plamil foods since 1977 have produced case histories on over 100 children which are glowing testimony to the health of children brought up on a vegan diet.
Vegan preschoolers in the US were found to have generous intakes of protein, vitamins, and minerals; their diets exceeded recommended intakes for all nutrients studied, again with the exception of calcium (4). Although cow's milk provides about two-thirds of the calcium in the diets of omnivore preschool children, in many parts of the world cow's milk is not consumed and calcium intakes are low. It is not surprising, therefore, that the vegan children had low intakes. However no estimate was made of the calcium provided by drinking water; in hard water areas this amounts to as much as 250 mg/day. Moreover, adaptation to low calcium intakes is well known to occur (24) and it was showed (25) that children receiving as little as 200 mg/day remained in positive calcium balance.
The study showing lower calcium intakes by vegan preschoolers was conducted before calcium-fortified products were readily available so calcium intakes of vegan children may be higher now. Calcium is important for bone development. Around 45% of adult bone mass is accrued before 8 years of age, another 45% is added between 8-16 years of age and a further 10% accumulates in the next decade. Given the importance of calcium intake during childhood, all parents should ensure that their children's diets contain calcium rich foods and meet current recommendations for calcium for their age group.
Regrettably, there have been few recent studies looking at the long-term effects of a vegan diet, especially as it is believed that the foundations for many chronic diseases of adulthood have their beginnings in childhood. For example processes initiating atherosclerosis and high blood pressure are thought to start very early in life and blood pressure and cholesterol levels have been shown to track from early childhood and to be related to childhood nutrient intakes (5, 6). Body mass intake tracks from early childhood with obese children being at an increased risk of obesity in adulthood (7). One in 10 children in Britain is overweight. In February this year for the first time, 4 white teenagers were diagnosed with adult type 2 diabetes, all 4 children were overweight.
A study in 2000 (Thane CW & Bates CJ Dietary intakes and nutrient status of vegetarian preschool children from a British national survey J Hum Nutr Dietet 13:3 pp149-162) looked at the diet of over 1.000 eighteen month olds and compared omnivores with vegetarians (no vegans were included). The study concluded that apart from lower levels of serum ferritin, indicating lower iron stores, the higher levels of anti-oxidants in the blood, lower fat and sodium intakes of the vegetarian pre-school children could be considered more desirable than the omnivorous children
When we look at potential long-term health benefits of vegan diets, we find that vegan children have higher intakes of fruits and vegetables, foods that are important for health. Vegan children have been shown to have lower intakes of fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than non-vegetarian children (9, 10). This may be important in reducing the risk of developing chronic diseases like heart disease, obesity, and hypertension. Finally, vegan diets may introduce children to a greater variety of whole plant foods, thus establishing healthful lifelong eating habits.
Vegan Infants
Up to the age of four to six months, the diets of many infants of vegan parents and infants with non-vegan parents are identical. The perfe ct food for the young infant is breast milk and supplemental foods should not be introduced until after four to six months of age. Breast-fed infants of well-nourished vegan women tend to grow and develop normally (11). The infant receives many benefits from breast-feeding including some enhancement of the immune system, protection against infection, and reduced risk of allergies (12). In addition, human breast milk is the natural food for baby humans and quite probably contains substances needed by growing infants that are not even known to be essential and are not included in infant formulas. Nursing mothers also receive benefits including a reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer, release of stress-relieving hormones, and, for some, convenience (12). For all these reasons, we strongly encourage breast-feeding.
Vitamin B12 and vitamin D are key nutrients for the young infant who is being exclusively breast-fed by a vegan woman. Vegan women, whose diets contain little or no vitamin B12, produce milk with very low levels of vitamin B12 (13). Since this vitamin is important for the developing nervous system, it is crucial for the infant to have a reliable source of vitamin B12. Many vegan women opt to use a vitamin B12 supplement or rely on fortified foods such as some breakfast cereals, fortified yeast extracts, vegan milks and some soya products to meet both their own vitamin B12 needs and the needs of their infant. If the mother's diet does not contain a daily, reliable source of vitamin B12, we recommend the young infant should receive a daily supplement of vitamin B12."
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