Should children be either vegetarian/ vegan?

Question

They are still growing and need their entire nutritions to stay in good health. Why do parents take that most important part of health away, the kids are not fully grown yet?

Can someone answer this? Expanding my education area....Thanks!

At what age would be safe for the kids to decide whether they want to be vegatarian/ vegan?

Answer 1

Nobody should be a vegetarian or vegan without knowing how to use the proper types of vegetables and supplements to obtain all necessary nutrients.

There is no reason that children in a vegetarian family can't be raised on the family's diet--provided the adults are able to ensure proper levels of protein and especially folic acid in the diet.

If your family is not vegetarian/vegan and your kids want to become such, then you might require them to study "Diet for a Small Planet" and similar sources, and test them on their knowledge of combined protein sources (note: more recently, research indicates that it's not essential to combine protein sources at once, like Diet insisted--but eating all different types of amino acids is still important) and other nutritional necessities.

Answer 2

I am not a parent yet and currently am an omnivore. I plan to make the switch to a vegetarian diet as soon as I finish consuming the meat I've already purchased. Any children I have will be raised vegetarian, if not vegan, but when they become mature enough to make their own decisions, they are free to consume animal products if they choose to do so.

Answer 3

i don't know at what age but do support your child by looking up healthy vegetarian diets and finding exactly wha she wants to rule out. I have a question on here that will help on that with many great answeres. such as do they want to eat only veggies, or veggies and eggs or whatever. then alot of the vegetarians her or othre web sites will be able to provide help in proper diets for vegetarians

Answer 4

I have been a vegetarian since I was four years old. I have developed fine. I think it is fine to have children be vegetarians but they have to have it be their decision. If a child doesnt understand why he/she is a vegitarian than he/she might not stick to it as they get older. Milk and dairy products are important for children so I would say any child under ten of eleven should be vegan.

Answer 5

A proper vegan or vegetarian diet Has all the nutrients as a meat diet. It is not unhealthy in any way IF IT IS DONE CORRECTLY. You do not need to supplement vitiamns either just eat ALL the right foods and it is fine. You will not lack in protien or any other nutrients. You are not taking anything away and the child will be just as healthy as meat eating counterparts plus probably like vegetable a whole lot more.

Answer 6

People only need a correctly balanced diet, so a child can be vegetarian/vegan.

In India generations of people have always been vegetarian (20-40% of the population is vegetarian). In Asia, most people don't consume much dairy at all. Those two countries alone (China/India) are over 2 billion people, about 1/3 the population of the earth.

Answer 7

It's perfectly healthy for children to grow up vegetarian as long as they receive all of their supplements and are monitored by a doctor. The periodical Vegetarian Times studies this and puts out articles about it frequently. It is up to you to decide what age your child is ready to make this decision. I'd say no earlier than 10 or 12. YOu would have to keep a close eye on what he is eating. There are plenty of children who have always grown up that way and are inperfect health, but I would start out with an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet.

Answer 8

Baby, just let me give you some food for thought. I was eight months pregnant with my son. All of a sudden every time I ate meat I would vomit. When he was born I breast fed. In the beginning he ate from me just fine. At the age of 6 weeks he started to vomit every time I ate meat. So we had to put him on Soy formula. When he got 1 year old he started eating on his own. Every time he ate meat he vomited. I stopped giving him meat. He did not eat a McDonalds hambergur until the age of 14. He survived off of corn, brocolli, oatmeal, milk & cereal for 14 years. Now you tell me?

Answer 9

Yeah-your education needs expanding. A small amount of basic research would have told you that there are no nutrients missing in a balanced vegan or vegetarian diet. All required elements for health can be provided by a plant based diet. Most parents today feed their kids so much junk and processed food-why don't you ask why they don't provide proper nutrition?

Answer 10

Why do you think children cannot get nutrients from food excluding meat? I'm not saying they even need to take vitamins. Everything your body needs can be obtained from eating anything but meat, and even dairy and egg products, especially COW'S milk. I personally don't think it's healthy to subject young children to all the processed meats of today's world, and wish I hadn't been.

I'm not telling anyone to not feed meat to their children, but you asked.