Guest guest Posted April 30, 2002 Report Share Posted April 30, 2002 Looks like a classical " failure to thrive " situation... http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/ap/20020430/ap_on_re_us/vegetaria\ n_abuse_1 Vegetarians Face Child Abuse Charge Tue Apr 30, 7:50 AM ET By STEPHANIE GASKELL, Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - A couple who put their baby daughter on a strict vegetarian diet were charged with child endangerment after authorities found the girl last year weighing only half her normal weight, prosecutors said. Joseph and Silva Swinton, both 31, were charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Both pleaded innocent Friday. Prosecutors said the baby was fed ground nuts, fresh-squeezed juices, herbal tea, beans, cod liver oil and flax seed oil. She was not breast-fed or given infant formulas. Authorities were alerted to the situation by an anonymous call in November, said Maris Campbell, a spokeswoman for the district attorney. She said the baby was " in grave risk of death. " " She weighed only 10 pounds, less than half the weight of an average 16-month-old female child, and appeared to be the size of a 2- to 3-month-old baby, " District Attorney Richard Brown said Monday. But Warren Silverman, a lawyer representing the mother, said the parents " felt that they have their own lifestyle, they're vegetarians, and they felt that they were providing proper care for their child. " The child has been in foster care since November. The girl is now 20 months old and doctors said she now weighs 20 pounds, still about the normal weight of a 10- to 12-month old baby. Campbell said the girl faces major developmental problems. Health - your guide to health and wellness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 1, 2002 Report Share Posted May 1, 2002 In a message dated 5/1/2002 5:46:54 AM Pacific Daylight Time, MaynardClark writes: > Looks like a classical " failure to thrive " situation... > It sounds to me like they were neglectful, the poor thing wasn't breastfed or given formula, two things which would have prevented that from happening. Poor thing! Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 1, 2002 Report Share Posted May 1, 2002 This kind of stuff makes us look bad. How ridiculous. No breastfeeding? MORONS! My kids are have been vegetarian since birth and are in the 50% in the weight category. They eat plenty and are healthier than most kids. I wish we could reply to this article somehow. UGH!!!!!!!! Maynard S. Clark [MaynardClark] Tuesday, April 30, 2002 3:39 PM VegEats-News (AT) Groups (DOT) com Vegetarians Face Child Abuse Charge Looks like a classical " failure to thrive " situation... http://story.news./news?tmpl=story <http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/ap/20020430/ap_on_re_us/ vegetarian_abuse_1> & u=/ap/20020430/ap_on_re_us/vegetarian_abuse_1 Vegetarians Face Child Abuse Charge Tue Apr 30, 7:50 AM ET By STEPHANIE GASKELL, Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - A couple who put their baby daughter on a strict vegetarian diet were charged with child endangerment after authorities found the girl last year weighing only half her normal weight, prosecutors said. Joseph and Silva Swinton, both 31, were charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Both pleaded innocent Friday. Prosecutors said the baby was fed ground nuts, fresh-squeezed juices, herbal tea, beans, cod liver oil and flax seed oil. She was not breast-fed or given infant formulas. Authorities were alerted to the situation by an anonymous call in November, said Maris Campbell, a spokeswoman for the district attorney. She said the baby was " in grave risk of death. " " She weighed only 10 pounds, less than half the weight of an average 16-month-old female child, and appeared to be the size of a 2- to 3-month-old baby, " District Attorney Richard Brown said Monday. But Warren Silverman, a lawyer representing the mother, said the parents " felt that they have their own lifestyle, they're vegetarians, and they felt that they were providing proper care for their child. " The child has been in foster care since November. The girl is now 20 months old and doctors said she now weighs 20 pounds, still about the normal weight of a 10- to 12-month old baby. Campbell said the girl faces major developmental problems. Health - your guide to health and wellness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 1, 2002 Report Share Posted May 1, 2002 Thats horrible! Its people like that who give vegetarians a bad rap. It said she was not breastfeed or given formula - does that mean never or just at the time they were arrested? , " Maynard S. Clark " <MaynardClark@Y...> wrote: > > Looks like a classical " failure to thrive " situation... > > http://story.news./news? tmpl=story & u=/ap/20020430/ap_on_re_us/vegetarian_abuse_1 > > Vegetarians Face Child Abuse Charge > Tue Apr 30, 7:50 AM ET > > By STEPHANIE GASKELL, Associated Press Writer > NEW YORK (AP) - A couple who put their baby daughter on a strict vegetarian diet were charged with child endangerment after authorities found the girl last year weighing only half her normal weight, prosecutors said. > > Joseph and Silva Swinton, both 31, were charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Both pleaded innocent Friday. > > Prosecutors said the baby was fed ground nuts, fresh-squeezed juices, herbal tea, beans, cod liver oil and flax seed oil. She was not breast-fed or given infant formulas. > > Authorities were alerted to the situation by an anonymous call in November, said Maris Campbell, a spokeswoman for the district attorney. She said the baby was " in grave risk of death. " > > " She weighed only 10 pounds, less than half the weight of an average 16-month-old female child, and appeared to be the size of a 2- to 3-month-old baby, " District Attorney Richard Brown said Monday. > > But Warren Silverman, a lawyer representing the mother, said the parents " felt that they have their own lifestyle, they're vegetarians, and they felt that they were providing proper care for their child. " > > The child has been in foster care since November. > > The girl is now 20 months old and doctors said she now weighs 20 pounds, still about the normal weight of a 10- to 12-month old baby. Campbell said the girl faces major developmental problems. > > > > > > Health - your guide to health and wellness > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 1, 2002 Report Share Posted May 1, 2002 Just because we're Vegetarians doesn't mean we don't have common sense. This child never had breast milk or soy milk, but just ground nuts etc!!! They have lost their mind!!! My daughter had soy milk until she developed an allergy to that and then I put her on to Vitamite. She was eatting cereal since age 3 months, a little ahead of what they said was when you feed them, but I would NEVER, EVER have thought not to feed her either soy or breast milk. And our children (Vegetarian) are very healthy if they are fed right, not so underweight that she was the size of a two or three month old chid. They are crazy!!! They should have taken her! There was no excuse for that! They have taken it too far, way too far and could have lost their child's life! Her body was not able to handle groud nuts etc. as a newborn until age 3 or 4 months old. Its not us Vegetarians that is the problem, it's people like them that give us a bad name. My daughter is 5, though she wasn't raised vegetarian her entire, she has not lost any weight being veggie, as a matter of fact she's healthier and has gained weight. She is healthier than her friends who eat nothing but junk. She is 4 ft tall, and 58 lb's. She's very active and has no health problems. That just makes me angry and sick. No breast milk, no soy milk? I'm glas they took that poor child away!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 1, 2002 Report Share Posted May 1, 2002 How is Cod Liver Oil rated as " vegetarian " food? It's too bad the " Vegetarian " label on the article seems to indict vegetarians as being abusive to their children instead of placing the focus on these misinformed/miseducated? or just plain abusive parents. It's so sad to hear such an awful story. > > Maynard S. Clark [MaynardClark] > Tuesday, April 30, 2002 1:39 PM > VegEats-News (AT) Groups (DOT) com > Vegetarians Face Child Abuse Charge > > > > Looks like a classical " failure to thrive " situation... > > http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/ap/20020430/ap_on_r > e_us/vegetarian_abuse_1 > > Vegetarians Face Child Abuse Charge > Tue Apr 30, 7:50 AM ET > > By STEPHANIE GASKELL, Associated Press Writer > NEW YORK (AP) - A couple who put their baby daughter on a strict > vegetarian diet were charged with child endangerment after > authorities found the girl last year weighing only half her > normal weight, prosecutors said. > > Joseph and Silva Swinton, both 31, were charged with reckless > endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Both pleaded > innocent Friday. > > Prosecutors said the baby was fed ground nuts, fresh-squeezed > juices, herbal tea, beans, cod liver oil and flax seed oil. She > was not breast-fed or given infant formulas. > > Authorities were alerted to the situation by an anonymous call in > November, said Maris Campbell, a spokeswoman for the district > attorney. She said the baby was " in grave risk of death. " > > " She weighed only 10 pounds, less than half the weight of an > average 16-month-old female child, and appeared to be the size of > a 2- to 3-month-old baby, " District Attorney Richard Brown said Monday. > > But Warren Silverman, a lawyer representing the mother, said the > parents " felt that they have their own lifestyle, they're > vegetarians, and they felt that they were providing proper care > for their child. " > > The child has been in foster care since November. > > The girl is now 20 months old and doctors said she now weighs 20 > pounds, still about the normal weight of a 10- to 12-month old > baby. Campbell said the girl faces major developmental problems. > > > > > > Health - your guide to health and wellness > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 1, 2002 Report Share Posted May 1, 2002 I'm speechless. While this story is upsetting, I'm nearly as upset by Maynard's reaction. Feeding an infant on the foods listed is not part of being vegetarian. Unless being starved counts as failure to thrive, this is in NO way a " classical failure to thrive situation " . If people don't want to breastfeed then giving formula or a nutritionally adequate homemade formula will have to do, but what they listed was in no way adequate for infant development. Sandra, boiling > Looks like a classical " failure to thrive " situation... > > http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/ap/20020430/ap_on_re_us/veget arian_abuse_1 > > Vegetarians Face Child Abuse Charge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2002 Report Share Posted May 4, 2002 I wasn't going to comment on this one because it is a sad situation no matter how you look at it and I don't know these people personally so I don't want to judge. Then I saw all the emails judging these people so I guess I feel the need to vent. I know personally that everything printed or said in the news is not necessarily fact. People are misquoted and misrepresented all the time. I feel for the parents and the child in this case. It does sound neglectful if the child was not breastfed or given formula (soy milk or cow's milk would not due obviously). But, it also scares me when children are taken away from their parents when the parents are doing anything different from society. A woman locally lost her child last year for 'forcing' her 4 or 5 year old to nurse. I do know more details about this case than the media reported on and luckily the child and mother are together again. The thing that bothers me most about this article is the fact they mention vegetarianism at all. If these people were meat-eaters would they say 'meat-eaters' feed baby nothing but french fries and McNuggets until she was taken away put in a veg home to eat tofu and spinach? I know several parents who say their kids will literally not eat anything that isn't fried and in particular french fries and chicken nuggets. These kids are not underweight and don't make the news. Of course, my mother fed us all sorts of stuff when I was younger that I would not think of as food now (not just because I'm vegan). I know she was trying to do the best for us and always thought she was raising healthy children (which we all ended up fine). Of course, there are always extremes and this case sounds extreme. I just hope that we can all be compassionate to these parents as well as the child as well as the people in the media. Linda Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 4, 2002 Report Share Posted May 4, 2002 This absolutely breaks my heart and makes me so angry -- even more so as the mother of a 9-month old baby girl (who was breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months of her life and then, in addition to breast milk, has been on an otherwise vegan diet and currently weighs 20 lbs and is 28.5 inches!And I hardly overfeed her, she is just healthy.) It is just inconceivable to me the level of ignorance involved. At 31 years old, you'd think this couple would have the wherewithall to be a little more responsible. Even if they truly believed they were providing their daughter with a healthful diet, couldn't they see that she was not thriving? If you are going to make a choice -- especially from infancy -- to raise a child on a restrictive diet, isn't it plain old common sense to make sure that you are giving them adequate nutrition to support proper growth and development? Did they ever bring their daughter to a pediatrician and, if so, did the pediatrician express to them the importance of nutrition or was he/she completely negligent by choosing not to get involved? And what about the family and friends of this couple? Why did it take 16 months before someone intervened? I can only hope these parents (HA! They are clearly anything but!)are made to understand the severe damage and abuse they inflicted upon their daughter, that they never give birth again or ever get their daughter released into their custody, and that, G-d willing, their daughter continues to thrive in her current environment and the growth and developmental damage she has sustained stands a chance of being ameliorated. It is because of people like this couple that, as a nutritionist and vegetarian, I wish to reach out to those raising vegetarian or vegan children. There is a great deal of research out there to support the fact that, if provided with adequate and appropriate nutrition, vegan and vegetarian children can experience healthy growth and development. In fact, it is likely they will experience better overall health than their omnivorous counterparts. , " Maynard S. Clark " <MaynardClark@Y...> wrote: > > Looks like a classical " failure to thrive " situation... > > http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/ap/20020430/ap_on_re_us /vegetarian_abuse_1 > > Vegetarians Face Child Abuse Charge > Tue Apr 30, 7:50 AM ET > > By STEPHANIE GASKELL, Associated Press Writer > NEW YORK (AP) - A couple who put their baby daughter on a strict vegetarian diet were charged with child endangerment after authorities found the girl last year weighing only half her normal weight, prosecutors said. > > Joseph and Silva Swinton, both 31, were charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. Both pleaded innocent Friday. > > Prosecutors said the baby was fed ground nuts, fresh-squeezed juices, herbal tea, beans, cod liver oil and flax seed oil. She was not breast-fed or given infant formulas. > > Authorities were alerted to the situation by an anonymous call in November, said Maris Campbell, a spokeswoman for the district attorney. She said the baby was " in grave risk of death. " > > " She weighed only 10 pounds, less than half the weight of an average 16-month-old female child, and appeared to be the size of a 2- to 3-month-old baby, " District Attorney Richard Brown said Monday. > > But Warren Silverman, a lawyer representing the mother, said the parents " felt that they have their own lifestyle, they're vegetarians, and they felt that they were providing proper care for their child. " > > The child has been in foster care since November. > > The girl is now 20 months old and doctors said she now weighs 20 pounds, still about the normal weight of a 10- to 12-month old baby. Campbell said the girl faces major developmental problems. > > > > > > Health - your guide to health and wellness > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2002 Report Share Posted May 5, 2002 I sort of thought it'd be interesting to somehow do a press release of some sort with a picture of kids raised vegan from birth. here in Rochester, there's probably close to a dozen of us with kids who were vegan from birth, and they all look great. I think it would be nice for people to have an actual visual proof of what real vegan kids look like. I'm not sure how to go about doing this, but I'm just throwing it out there. Leena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2002 Report Share Posted May 6, 2002 A voice of reason lights up the night... You are so correct. I admit (as evidence from a post I made on this) that I judged them very quickly based on that article. But it is so true that often the real facts of the situation are not represented in the news. If it was truthful reporting then I have to say that my judgment stands, however it is VERY POSSIBLE that not all of the facts were presented in which case I feel for the family. , Linda Evans <veganlinda> wrote: > I know personally that everything printed or said in > the news is not necessarily fact. People are > misquoted and misrepresented all the time. I feel for > the parents and the child in this case. It does sound > neglectful if the child was not breastfed or given > formula (soy milk or cow's milk would not due > obviously). But, it also scares me when children are > taken away from their parents when the parents are > doing anything different from society Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2002 Report Share Posted May 6, 2002 I think that's a great idea! - <leena Saturday, May 04, 2002 9:14 PM RE: Vegetarians Face Child Abuse Charge > I sort of thought it'd be interesting to somehow do a press release of some > sort with a picture of kids raised vegan from birth. here in Rochester, > there's probably close to a dozen of us with kids who were vegan from birth, > and they all look great. I think it would be nice for people to have an > actual visual proof of what real vegan kids look like. I'm not sure how to > go about doing this, but I'm just throwing it out there. > > Leena > > > > > For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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