Raising vegetarian children?

Question

Both my boyfriend and myself are vegetarians, and the other day we were discussing how we're raise our children, diet-wise. We agreed to a vegetarian diet, but some people have argued with us that a growing child needs meat in his or her diet, to be healthy. I totally don't agree with this, but I was wondering if anyone else had some reasources I could look into to learn more about this?

Answer 1

My husband and I are raising our son as a vegetarian--not a vegan. He's four, and the picture of health. I suppose vegans may have more difficulty getting all the correct amino acids that are offered in meat. I do think it is possible though. As ovo-lacto vegetarians we eat cheese, eggs, and drink milk. I like the book Raising Vegetarian Children. It's written with vegan kids in mind, but also has information on vegetarian kids, which we found very useful. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0658021559/sr=1-1/qid=1155316611/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9324204-8331220?ie=UTF8&s=books
When our son was younger, our son's pediatrician referred us to a diatician. She helped some, but it helped when we were more proactive about finding things our son enjoyed eating.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/vegetarian_and_vegan/children.shtml
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vegetarian_kids.html
http://www.vegetarianbaby.com/fooddiaries.shtml

Good luck to you!

Answer 2

My parents are vegetarians too And they raised me as a vegetarian. I have never had a piece of meat in my life and I have no health conditions and I'm 13

Answer 3

My siblings and I were raised vegetarians and we did fine. But we were allowed to consume milk.
If you bring up your child vegan, you'd need to be careful about some nutrients that are only available in meat or other animal foods ( such as vitamin B-12). Iron is also difficult to get in vegan foods.
Just give your child a multivitamin that is complete and contains iron.
For protein, give your child peanut butter, soy milk, beans, whole grains etc.

Answer 4

I'm a vegetarian, but I think children need some meat. If meat grosses you out, just buy them meat dishes at restaurants. That'll be plenty, especially since Americans generally eat way too much red meat anyway.

Answer 5

My son is a picky eater, has been since birth. He hates the texture of meat, and so I never make him eat it.

Just make sure your children get sources of protein, such as peanut butter, milk, cheese, eggs, beans. As long as they do that, they'll get all the protein they need.

As for my picky eating son, he loves peanut butter sandwiches, french toast, and milk. He's 4'1" tall, is 5, is at a completely healthy weight (57lbs), and can already read and do simple math. He starts kindergarten in 4 weeks.

Answer 6

I wouldn't force the kids to be vegetarians because it's not something dangerous. I feel I would let them make their own choice.

Kids usually do whatever the parents do. They'll probably end up vegetarians anyway, but at least, it will be their choice.

Answer 7

Remember that they are still growing and they will need a substitute for meat because it has protein and other things as well . If you are going to do it proper , ask a dietitian what to do so you don't interfere with their natural growth

Answer 8

I agree that there are amino acids in meat not found in vegetables. Give them plenty of milk, cheese and eggs and they will get by.

Answer 9

Their are plenty of meat substitutes out there for you to use but don't limit your child's variety. Although veggies are very health.

Answer 10

well my whole family eats meat...and when i was small...my mom use to feed me meat etc....but i have decided to stop it...im a veggie now..since the past 2 yrs...and neither do i intend to start non veg again....
so i feel....if feeding meat is important....do it...once ur child grows...let them decide wht they want...dont force them into anything....