for those raising vegan children

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=46 & entry_id=32054

 

Should I allow my 5-year-old to be a vegan?

A few days ago, my 5-year-old daughter, Paris, announced that she wants to be a

vegan. I was surprised. We're omnivores in our family. For dinner I often serve

roasted chicken, ground turkey tacos, stuffed pork chops, the occasional flank

steak. And I always have a bag of salami in the fridge.

 

" Why? " I asked Paris.

 

" Because I love animals and I don't want to eat them. "

 

" That's very noble of you, " I said, but I was really thinking, this is an

unhealthy choice that will be inconvenient for the entire family.

 

I should have seen this coming. Ever since we adopted a cat, Paris has developed

a deep affection for animals. The little girl who was once terrified of dogs now

lets dogs on the street lick her face. And at dinner she has been asking about

the meat I put on the table: " Where does this come from? " " Is this skin? " " Yuck!

Is that blood? "

 

Knowing little about veganism, I went online to do some research--never a good

idea--and discovered a New York Times op-ed piece titled " Death by Veganism " by

Real Food author Nina Planck. She tells the story of an infant on a vegan diet

who supposedly died from malnutrition and declares veganism " dangerous for

weaned babies and toddlers, who need plenty of protein and calcium. "

 

She writes,

 

Too often, vegans turn to soy, which actually inhibits growth and reduces

absorption of protein and minerals. That's why health officials in Britain,

Canada and other countries express caution about soy for babies. (Not here,

though--perhaps because our farm policy is so soy-friendly.)

There's another side to Planck's argument and The Times was flooded with angry

letters and photographs of healthy vegan children. The paper's public editor,

Clark Hoyt, went as far to write an op-ed piece titled " The Danger of the

One-Sided Debate. "

 

Rachelle Leesen, a clinical nutritionist at the Children's Hospital of

Philadelphia, told me that Planck's article " was extremely inflammatory and full

of misinformation, " She and her colleague Brenda Waber pointed me to a 2003

paper by the American Dietetic Association, the nation's largest organization

for food and nutrition professionals. After reviewing the current science, the

A.D.A., together with the Dietitians of Canada, declared, " Well-planned vegan

and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life

cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and

adolescence.

Confused, I checked in with registered dietitian Susannah Wallenstrom, who works

at the outpatient clinic at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. " I would not

discourage parents from choosing to raise their children as vegans and I do

think it can work, but it requires very careful planning, " Wallenstrom said. " It

is crucial to assess the nutritional intake of the child to monitor proper

growth and development because you are excluding whole food groups. It's

important to inform your pediatrician and get support from a registered

dietitian to ensure your child's nutrient needs are being met. "

 

Wallenstrom went over the nutrients that a vegan's diet could potentially lack:

vitamin B12, vitamin D, zinc, iron, omega 3 fatty acids, and protein. She ran

through foods that can help vegans meet their nutritional needs: legumes, soy

products, fortified cereals, leafy greens, brewer's yeast, wheat germ, calcium

fortified orange juice, rice and soy milk fortified with calcium and vitamin D,

flax seed, and chick peas (for a more complete list on the Kaiser Web site,

click here). As Wallenstrom was rattling off foods, I was thinking, this could

work but it's going to make grocery shopping even more complicated. I suddenly

felt great admiration for those parents who are raising healthy vegans.

 

Paris and I later talked about what being a vegan means. She knew she couldn't

eat eggs but she didn't realize that milk would be banned from her diet. " What

will I eat with my cereal? " she asked. I explained the vegetarian diet, which

allows for milk, and she liked that idea--until I told her that she couldn't eat

salami. " Salami comes from an animal? That's OK. I'll eat it anyway, " she said.

 

So there you have it: My daughter is a vegetarian who eats salami--at least for

this week.

 

If you're raising your children as vegetarians or vegans please share your

experiences. How do you make sure your kids are properly nourished? Anyone

disagree with vegetarianism or veganism for young children?

 

Posted By: Amy Graff (Email) | October 29 2008 at 08:00 AM

 

 

 

 

For in a Republic, who is “the country� Is it the Government which is for

the moment in the saddle? Why, the Government is merely a servant—merely a

temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and

what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to

obey orders, not originate them.

Mark Twain