should I allow my 13 year old to be a vegetarian?

Question

My daughter decided at age 12 she wants to be a vegitarian. I have allowed it for a year, but she will not eat proper foods she needs. Shes pickey about some veggies, will not eat fish for protien, and only some fruits and nuts. She wants to live on soups and pastas.Plus she has azthma and takes alot of meds. I am worried about it. Do I allow her to make those decisions? Or do I force her to eat the meat when it grosses her out? I KNOW I AM THE PARENT....BUT WHAT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO? MOMS AND DADS PLEASE HELP.

Answer 1

have her pick the most tolerable meat, and cook with that, at least one serving of meat a day she can stomach, whether it is with dinner, or on a salad, or whatever. you are the parent. she can also be a vegetarian but if she isnt eating properly then you can't accept it.

Sorry, though i am not a parent

Answer 2

Okay when i was about the same age i descided to become a vegetarian. It lasted for four years. I hate lettuce and most veggies. I didn't eat fruit. I survived mostly on peanutbutter and
nuts for protein. I loved pasta dishes, also if she is not trying to become a true veggie. Milk and dairy products will help. Allow her to check out some vegetarian cookbooks and pick some meals to try from them. Veggie burgers are also a good source of food.
They have totally meatless hotdogs, sausage, bacon, hamburgers, and much more. Letting her choose weither or not to eat meat wont kill her you just need to tell her if that is a choice she wants to make she has to be healthy about it. THere are also vitamines she can take. Talking to her doctor about the affects of her diet on her azthma would be a step that if you have not already taken I would do so soon.

Answer 3

This is a difficult issue - is she doing this for health reasons? You need to discuss what it means to be a vegetarian or a vegan. To be a vegan it is REALLY hard for her to get enough protein and iron - Maybe you could buy her a book on vegetarian eating and go through it with her, get her to nominate recipes she likes the look of, maybe encourage her to cook for the family once a week. Plus you all eat it so there is a sense of a trade off - an acceptance of a decision she has made. Also alot of teenagers do this to empower themselves - ignorant of just how much nutrition their bodies need at this vital time. There are quite a few sites on teenage health - maybe sit down with her and look at a few - discuss her calcium and iron needs - let her know about the long term damage malnutrition at her age can cause - osteoporosis etc - even the link between clear skin - strong teeth - many young people are fairly obsessed with their looks( sad to say) so if she realises that poor nutrition will impact on her longevity and appearance she might consider reviewing some of the foods she's prepared to consume.

Answer 4

I was a vegetarian from age 13 to age 16. I didn't gain any height at all during those years. I read later that there's an amino acid that children need for their bodies to make growth hormones, called L-lysine. It comes from red meat, or from a supplement. I didn't know back then that I needed a supplement. My sisters are both 5'8" and I'm only 5'3", so I'm sure I did actually stunt my growth. When I started eating meat again, I grew an inch in a week, and then never grew again.

Why does meat gross her out? The reason I decided to be vegetarian was that my mom never cooked meat all the way. If it wasn't still bleeding, she thought it was overcooked. She didn't let me microwave it until it was cooked through, so I decided that I just wouldn't eat meat anymore. Your daughter's reason might be as simple as that.

Oh, I had asthma as a child too...and it turned out that mine was an allergy to cats. When I grew up and moved out, my asthma went away almost instantly. The only time I wheeze now is when I go to my mom's house.

You didn't mention dairy products in your daughter's diet...does she eat them? And what about tofu, for protein?

Tell your daughter what happened to me, about not growing, and how my younger sisters ended up way taller than me, and tell her if she wants to continue as a vegetarian, that you'll take her to the doctor and get a referral to a nutritionist, who can help design a balanced vegetarian diet for her, so that she'll grow properly. Tell her it is her choice to make, but it's your responsibility to make sure she gets proper nutrition, so if she wants to be a vegetarian, she needs to follow a good diet.

Answer 5

you can not force her to eat but she needs to be eating the right foods. Vegetarians do NOT eat fish. Protein can come from many sources including cheese (or is she vegan?). You need to get some books and sit and explain if she wants to be one then she needs to eat like one. Maybe even take her to a dietitian. Make sure you keep an eye on her iron levels. It was this age that I was a vegetarian an became very anaemic. She needs to eat lot's of beans and lentils, look up a good dietitian and get a professional to explain it all to her

Answer 6

i may be wrong, but it sounds like she has an eating disorder more than the fact that she wants to be vegetarian in the purist sense.
Your maternal instincts are right. Her health comes first and you're the best person to help. But please don't use force - she's 13 and at the most vulnerable stages of her life. There may be a deeper reason to why she wants to be a vegetarian. Talk to her, understand her and find creative ways to win her over her trust then slowly get her around. Allowing her to have a choice is important - guiding her to the right one is tricky, but necessary as her parent. Good luck and don't give up...

Answer 7

She sounds like she wants to make reasonable choices, so try to appeal to her logical side. She needs to understand the importance of protein in our diets. Vitamin B12 is something that does not exist in plant foods, but is a very important vitamin. Soy is an incomplete protein since it contains no taurine. (As a mother of an epileptic child, this was a pertinent fact.)

If she is not eating properly as a vegetarian or do the in depth research for a rounded diet that includes the very necessary proteins and iron consumption, then as a child, she should not be allowed to set the standards that affect her physical development and brain growth. This is your job.

Compromising is reasonable if she is willing to understand the foods she is (or is not) putting into her body. The effort will have to come from her if she wants it badly enough. She simply should not be able to go on a fantasy lark without the reality of knowing what she is doing to herself having being discovered.

Answer 8

You are the parent, so it is your obligation to understand her. At the age of 13, she should have the right to make some choices on her own, to EXTENT, especially when it comes to her body. She needs to know that she can make GOOD decisions, and she needs to know how. If meat sincerely grosses her out, she can’t help it. Do the research together. She will know that you are trying, and she can learn more about it as well. Find out what she can eat to get the nutrients she needs. This site might help:

http://vegetarian.about.com/

Answer 9

You should both learn more about nutrition. Try google, here's a start
http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/protein_combo.htm
The fact is that there are ways to create complete proteins by mixing certain grains and beans/cheeses together. There are plenty of places online, and books everywhere about how to be a vegetarian. If you're worried about all the minerals and vitamins, get her a multivitamin, or feed her total cereal. Total is exactly what they call it, 100% of your daily needed.

I would never force a child to eat something they didn't want, I would provide alternatives and make other foods more appealing. Soups and pastas are a great way to get protein, if you prepare properly. Support your child, get educated about it, and help her. In fact, when a person only needs three ounces of meat a day (and the average burger is five) Americans eat way more protein than necessary, which can also cause damage to your kidneys and metabolism.

Some sources of vitamin B (since everyone's in a hoopla about it)

Leading Food Sources of riboflavin (vitamin B2): Avocados, Clams, Yogurt, Milk, Pork, fresh, Lamb, Duck, Mushrooms

Leading Food Sources of thiamin (vitamin B1): Asparagus, Soy milk, Barley, Oats, Wheat, Sunflower seeds, Tuna, Brazil nuts, Salmon, Pork, Pasta, Rice, Avocados, Mussels

Leading Food Sources of vitamin B12: Beef, Yogurt, Tuna, Lamb, Oysters, Trout, Crab, Clams

Leading Food Sources of vitamin B6: Sweet potatoes, Avocados, Bananas, Mangoes, Sunflower seeds, Tuna, Chick-peas, Salmon, Pork, fresh, Potatoes, Turkey, Chicken, Bok choy, Rice, brown, Barley

Answer 10

Honestly, no. I would have her eat meat, especially at this age. She is still growing and needs the protein and vitamins that meat can provide. In addition, I went through a similar stage at her age, and I grew out of it. This could be a phase and not worth risking her health.

I'm not parent, but I do have two friends that are vegetarian. They both do no eat properly, and believe that they can live off of soups, pasta, plain salads (just greens, cheese, dressing) pizza, fries, mashed potatoes. They hardly eat any fruit or veggies. They are overweight, yet look sickly from the lack of protein and vitamins. Their eating habits gross me out, and i really don't understand them.

If she insists on not eating meat, take her to the doctor and have him explain the consequences of an unhealthy diet. Tell her she has to follow proper nutrition or this diet is not allowed.

Answer 11

She doesn't need fish or meat for protien. Soy products contain protien, nuts are a very good source of protien. Pastas are not bad and neither are soups. You might start checking out some vegtarian recipies I also recommend that you read up on vegtarianism because it sounds like neither you or your daughter really have a clue about it.