Guest guest Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Hey Fraggle, leave a comment! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1028854/How-strict-vegan-diet-children-ill.html Holly Paige couldn't understand why her children, Bertie, then four, and Lizzie, three, were looking so drawn and skinny, yet their stomachs were full. Then when Lizzie smiled at her one day, Holly was horrified to see that her top row of teeth were brown and full of cavities. 'I couldn't work out what was going on,' says Holly, who lives in Totnes, Devon. 'We all ate exceptionally healthily, with plenty of vegetables, nuts and seeds.' Misguided: Holly Paige with her two children, Bertie (left) and Lizzie The problem was that this was all the Paiges ate. They had a strict vegan diet, and ate only raw food. From the day they were weaned, Bertie and Lizzie had never eaten meat, fish or dairy foods - except a slice of raw goat's cheese once a month. 'I'd heard about the raw food diet through a friend and thought it sounded like a really healthy thing to do,' says Holly, 45. 'I was assured by the people who devised the diet that we would get all the protein we needed from nuts and seeds, and we also took a daily supplement to replace the nutrients found in animal foods. 'We also ate pulses, grains and soya; I thought we were on the most nutritious diet possible. 'But then I started noticing that something wasn't right. The children were wearing clothes two sizes smaller than they should have been. I have two older children and they never had growth problems or tooth decay. Bertie and Lizzie's muscles seemed weak and they had problems seeing at night. 'When we went to the supermarket, Lizzie would grab a pack of butter and start gnawing on it. I couldn't understand why this well-fed child was behaving like this. I was so brainwashed that the fact our bodies were craving dairy products had passed me by.' Holly referred to a vitamin book, where she discovered the children's symptoms were a sign of serious protein and vitamin D deficiency. 'I had let malnutrition in through the back door in the name of health,' she recalls now with horror. She immediately introduced dairy into their diet, and says the change in the children's health has been 'remarkable'. Alarmingly, Holly's is a far from unique case. Earlier this month, Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children reported a 12-year-old girl with a severe form of rickets. Her parents, 'well-known figures in Glasgow's vegan community', had unwittingly starved her of necessary nutrients found in fish and meat, causing her to develop the bone-wasting disease usually associated with 19thcentury slums. A Trading Standards study into nursery food recently found that many nurseries were feeding toddlers a diet too high in fruit and vegetables, and too low in calories and fats, putting them at risk of nutritional deficiencies. Health information overload 'There's so much health information that parents are confused,' says the Mail's nutritionist, Jane Clarke. 'They think it's best to take what they think are "bad things" out of their child's diet, but often denying children meat, milk or wheat can do more harm than good.' Jessica Hatfield discovered this for herself when her nine-year-old son Max, a previously active, sporty child, became increasingly run down. Some days he had no energy at all and couldn't get out of bed. To Jessica's surprise, her GP referred Max to a child nutritionist. 'I couldn't understand it - he'd always eaten so healthily,' she says. She was even more astonished when the nutritionist said his supposedly 'healthy' diet - no carbohydrates and only meat, fish, and salad - wasn't giving him enough energy to fuel his active life. As Judy More, the nutritionist who saw Max, explains: 'Once his diet was described to me, it was obvious why he had no energy. Children need a constant supply of energy, especially if they're doing sport, and the quickest way is carbs. 'His mother's mistake was to follow a fad diet, hyped up by magazines and endorsed by celebrities, to a growing child.' Furthermore, forcing a child to go dairy-free so young, without replacing calcium, also risks giving them bad teeth and poor bone growth and osteoporosis. Since bone-building stops in our early 20s, weak bones in our teens mean weak bones for life. Red meat is another worry for parents after a recent World Cancer Research Fund report linked processed red meat to cancer. Some mothers have removed all red meat from their children's diet, without replacing its vital iron. This is potentially harmful because children need iron for brain development and physical growth. Too much fibre is another problem created by some fussy parents. Jane Clarke recalls: 'A miserable little boy was brought to me with constant diarrhoea. His parents, who were feeding him almost exclusively on bread and vegetables, couldn't see what could be wrong. He got better as soon as we switched to a lower fibre diet. 'Because fibre absorbs water, it's like a sponge inside the stomach. Since a child's stomach is so small, it's easy for food to fill them up before they eat other nutritious foodstuffs such as protein and fats, which are essential for energy and helping them grow.' Too many wholegrains She says it's important not to give pre-school children in particular too much wholegrain food. The irony is that later in life, once free of their dietary strictures, these 'healthily' skinny children are at risk of obesity, says paediatric health and exercise specialist Dr Caroline Dodd, of Northumbria University. 'An American study found that restricting children's access to snacks leads to more snacking later in life. 'It's particularly true of young girls. By making sweets and crisps taboo, they become all the more attractive.' Everyone agrees the solution is simple: don't treat children as adults and subject them to faddy diets or crazy exercise regimes. Although dieticians are seeing more children harmed by over-fussy parents, Jane Clarke is optimistic the numbers will soon decline: 'The pseudo-science on ridiculous TV programmes is beginning to be exposed, and sensible advice from properly qualified people is beginning to prevail.' For Holly's children, the good news is that their early lack of dairy seems to have caused no long-term damage. 'Bertie and Lizzie are now the correct size for their age and their rotten milk teeth are being replaced by healthy, white ones. I'm so relieved. 'What I realise now is that the raw food movement is actually a cult - these people will do anything to explain away the fact that for some people, this diet can have very damaging health consequences. 'I'm a very maternal person and can't believe I was so misguided as to risk my children's health.' Some names have been changed. Comments (11) Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below? I have serious case of hypocalcemia, lack of calcium, partly brought on by severe lack of vitamin D in my diet (and I don't go out much to get sun). I myself am permanently on calcium+vitamin D supplement, and possibly have permanent damage to my heart besides other things. (Lack of calcium affects not only your bones but all of your muscles as well, and I was diagnosed after years of nor even being able to walk properly). Sleeping at night was impossible because you get muscle cramps and your bones just simply ache. I can't imagine what it would be like for a kid, they have even greater chance of permanent damage. I'm on the way for recovery very slowly, it's hard work, and I hope vegan parents will read this story. I don't use much dairy products either, so calcium supplement with vitamin D to make your body absorb it is critical. Right now we're bringing back malnutrition types that have been near extinct in western world and it's not a good trend. - Boo, Helsinki, Finland, 24/6/2008 06:24 No child should be a vegetarian or a vegan until it is old enough to make that choice itself. Kids need meat and fat and energy to grow. My toddler doesn't eat a great diet because he's fussy but it makes me feel less guilty about the odd sausage, chip or cake that he munches with relish. - Kate, UK, 24/6/2008 06:15 I know dozens of people who follow the raw food diet, including families with children, and they all are, without exception, literally glowing with health and energy. This author must have not followed all the directives with regard to the raw food diet and missed out on vital elements of that diet. - Vierotchka, Geneva, Switzerland, 24/6/2008 04:32 **yourComments** - **name**, **townAndCountry**, **creationDate** View all Add your comment Name: Email: Your email address will not be published Town & Country: Your comments: You have 1000 characters left.Make text area bigger Remember me - this will save you having to type out your name, location and email address when you next leave a comment. Terms & conditions Peter vv Sent from Mail. A Smarter Email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 nice try peter... Peter VV Jun 25, 2008 12:17 PM Re: How a strict vegan diet made my children ill Hey Fraggle, leave a comment! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1028854/How-strict-vegan-diet-children-ill.html Holly Paige couldn't understand why her children, Bertie, then four, and Lizzie, three, were looking so drawn and skinny, yet their stomachs were full. Then when Lizzie smiled at her one day, Holly was horrified to see that her top row of teeth were brown and full of cavities. 'I couldn't work out what was going on,' says Holly, who lives in Totnes, Devon. 'We all ate exceptionally healthily, with plenty of vegetables, nuts and seeds.' Misguided: Holly Paige with her two children, Bertie (left) and Lizzie The problem was that this was all the Paiges ate. They had a strict vegan diet, and ate only raw food. From the day they were weaned, Bertie and Lizzie had never eaten meat, fish or dairy foods - except a slice of raw goat's cheese once a month. 'I'd heard about the raw food diet through a friend and thought it sounded like a really healthy thing to do,' says Holly, 45. 'I was assured by the people who devised the diet that we would get all the protein we needed from nuts and seeds, and we also took a daily supplement to replace the nutrients found in animal foods. 'We also ate pulses, grains and soya; I thought we were on the most nutritious diet possible. 'But then I started noticing that something wasn't right. The children were wearing clothes two sizes smaller than they should have been. I have two older children and they never had growth problems or tooth decay. Bertie and Lizzie's muscles seemed weak and they had problems seeing at night. 'When we went to the supermarket, Lizzie would grab a pack of butter and start gnawing on it. I couldn't understand why this well-fed child was behaving like this. I was so brainwashed that the fact our bodies were craving dairy products had passed me by.' Holly referred to a vitamin book, where she discovered the children's symptoms were a sign of serious protein and vitamin D deficiency. 'I had let malnutrition in through the back door in the name of health,' she recalls now with horror. She immediately introduced dairy into their diet, and says the change in the children's health has been 'remarkable'. Alarmingly, Holly's is a far from unique case. Earlier this month, Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children reported a 12-year-old girl with a severe form of rickets. Her parents, 'well-known figures in Glasgow's vegan community', had unwittingly starved her of necessary nutrients found in fish and meat, causing her to develop the bone-wasting disease usually associated with 19thcentury slums. A Trading Standards study into nursery food recently found that many nurseries were feeding toddlers a diet too high in fruit and vegetables, and too low in calories and fats, putting them at risk of nutritional deficiencies. Health information overload 'There's so much health information that parents are confused,' says the Mail's nutritionist, Jane Clarke. 'They think it's best to take what they think are "bad things" out of their child's diet, but often denying children meat, milk or wheat can do more harm than good.' Jessica Hatfield discovered this for herself when her nine-year-old son Max, a previously active, sporty child, became increasingly run down. Some days he had no energy at all and couldn't get out of bed. To Jessica's surprise, her GP referred Max to a child nutritionist. 'I couldn't understand it - he'd always eaten so healthily,' she says. She was even more astonished when the nutritionist said his supposedly 'healthy' diet - no carbohydrates and only meat, fish, and salad - wasn't giving him enough energy to fuel his active life. As Judy More, the nutritionist who saw Max, explains: 'Once his diet was described to me, it was obvious why he had no energy. Children need a constant supply of energy, especially if they're doing sport, and the quickest way is carbs. 'His mother's mistake was to follow a fad diet, hyped up by magazines and endorsed by celebrities, to a growing child.' Furthermore, forcing a child to go dairy-free so young, without replacing calcium, also risks giving them bad teeth and poor bone growth and osteoporosis. Since bone-building stops in our early 20s, weak bones in our teens mean weak bones for life. Red meat is another worry for parents after a recent World Cancer Research Fund report linked processed red meat to cancer. Some mothers have removed all red meat from their children's diet, without replacing its vital iron. This is potentially harmful because children need iron for brain development and physical growth. Too much fibre is another problem created by some fussy parents. Jane Clarke recalls: 'A miserable little boy was brought to me with constant diarrhoea. His parents, who were feeding him almost exclusively on bread and vegetables, couldn't see what could be wrong. He got better as soon as we switched to a lower fibre diet. 'Because fibre absorbs water, it's like a sponge inside the stomach. Since a child's stomach is so small, it's easy for food to fill them up before they eat other nutritious foodstuffs such as protein and fats, which are essential for energy and helping them grow.' Too many wholegrains She says it's important not to give pre-school children in particular too much wholegrain food. The irony is that later in life, once free of their dietary strictures, these 'healthily' skinny children are at risk of obesity, says paediatric health and exercise specialist Dr Caroline Dodd, of Northumbria University. 'An American study found that restricting children's access to snacks leads to more snacking later in life. 'It's particularly true of young girls. By making sweets and crisps taboo, they become all the more attractive.' Everyone agrees the solution is simple: don't treat children as adults and subject them to faddy diets or crazy exercise regimes. Although dieticians are seeing more children harmed by over-fussy parents, Jane Clarke is optimistic the numbers will soon decline: 'The pseudo-science on ridiculous TV programmes is beginning to be exposed, and sensible advice from properly qualified people is beginning to prevail.' For Holly's children, the good news is that their early lack of dairy seems to have caused no long-term damage. 'Bertie and Lizzie are now the correct size for their age and their rotten milk teeth are being replaced by healthy, white ones. I'm so relieved. 'What I realise now is that the raw food movement is actually a cult - these people will do anything to explain away the fact that for some people, this diet can have very damaging health consequences. 'I'm a very maternal person and can't believe I was so misguided as to risk my children's health.' Some names have been changed. Comments (11) Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below? I have serious case of hypocalcemia, lack of calcium, partly brought on by severe lack of vitamin D in my diet (and I don't go out much to get sun). I myself am permanently on calcium+vitamin D supplement, and possibly have permanent damage to my heart besides other things. (Lack of calcium affects not only your bones but all of your muscles as well, and I was diagnosed after years of nor even being able to walk properly). Sleeping at night was impossible because you get muscle cramps and your bones just simply ache. I can't imagine what it would be like for a kid, they have even greater chance of permanent damage. I'm on the way for recovery very slowly, it's hard work, and I hope vegan parents will read this story. I don't use much dairy products either, so calcium supplement with vitamin D to make your body absorb it is critical. Right now we're bringing back malnutrition types that have been near extinct in western world and it's not a good trend. - Boo, Helsinki, Finland, 24/6/2008 06:24 No child should be a vegetarian or a vegan until it is old enough to make that choice itself. Kids need meat and fat and energy to grow. My toddler doesn't eat a great diet because he's fussy but it makes me feel less guilty about the odd sausage, chip or cake that he munches with relish. - Kate, UK, 24/6/2008 06:15 I know dozens of people who follow the raw food diet, including families with children, and they all are, without exception, literally glowing with health and energy. This author must have not followed all the directives with regard to the raw food diet and missed out on vital elements of that diet. - Vierotchka, Geneva, Switzerland, 24/6/2008 04:32 **yourComments** - **name**, **townAndCountry**, **creationDate** View all Add your comment Name: Email: Your email address will not be published Town & Country: Your comments: You have 1000 characters left.Make text area bigger Remember me - this will save you having to type out your name, location and email address when you next leave a comment. Terms & conditions Peter vv Sent from Mail. A Smarter Email. “We now know that a neo-conservative is an arsonist who sets the house on fire and six years later boasts that no one can put it out.†- Bill Moyers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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