To think that these parents are a bit mad?

[Mummy2Bookie]

I know a family who have 3 dc's. All the children have strange embarrassing names, including one name that is a favourite for pet cats!
The children are not vaccinated and are very strict vegetarians. No meat, no fish no gelatine. But it doesn't end there. They are Also not allowed any raisins, sweets, chocolate etc basically anything with sugar.
I once saw ds1 hiding in a corner eating a jelly baby at nursery. Their ds1 also will not eat veg, so he is basically a vegetarian who will not eat veg and so eats nothing really. His parents will not alter his diet.
The youngest ds has seizures that the doc says he will grow out of. Doc says it may be a nutrition deficiency, but mum and dad will not alter his diet either. Ds1 has speech difficulties, but mum and dad are not worried.
At nursery ds1 and ds2 cannot have yogurt with the other children, only melon and apple.
Ds1 has told me that mum eats crisps and dad eats chocolate but the dc's have none.
It's none of my business but am I being unreadable to think this is a bit mad?

No, I don't agree it would necessarily affect the parents, Skyrg. That's why I think a veggie diet's fine for adults but nto for kids. Adults are fully grown & have stronger immune systems. Also, the parents didn't become vegetarian until they were in their mid thirties. Dd1 was 3 & dd2 was veggie at conception.

Ok, what about the rest of what I said?
And being vegetarian doesn't affect your immune system...

Also if we're doing anecdotal evidence I was vegetarian from birth, as were my cousins. We're all in our twenties and, afaik, perfectly healthy. None of us get ill regularly, and we were all healthy children.

Perhaps your parents kept a closer eye on your diet, Skyrg. I just know if my dd was ill as often or had contracted a serious enough illness to put her in hospital for 4 months, I would stand for NO restriction in her diet whatsoever.

Parent, actually. And yes, she did keep a close eye on my diet, as all parents should. But that's got nothing to do with being vegetarian, that's just being a parent.

No restriction whatsoever? Chocolate? Crisps? Sweets? You would restrict some things, but of course you wouldn't restrict any major food nutrition groups... and neither do vegetarians.

Do you actually know if her illness has anything to do with her diet?

Obviously I meant no restriction on healthy food. I said in an earlier post that I'm not saying it's definitely to do with her diet just that I would be concerned enough to question it. I could go into more relevant details but I'm not sure mum isn't an MN'er & would probably then recognize herself. Whilst I don't agree with their dc's diet, I do value them as friends & have only aired my views here because I agree with other posters that ultimately it's none of my business but I can't help feeling concerned. Also, isn't MN for putting these ideas out there to gauge opinion?

Ooh, are we doing anecdotal evidence? May I present my DP - a third generation vegetarian. He's 6 feet tall, rosy cheeked and full of energy. I've known him for 26 years and in all that time, he's been to the doctors once, for a knee injury following a Land's End - John O'Groats cycle ride. Meanwhile his mum, well into her 60's is currently trecking in the himalayas where the locals don't find her vegetarian diet at all odd and his gran is having a spritely good time living by the sea in her late 90's.

Didgeridoo, I understand what you're saying.
What I'm saying is that, if the diet was a good vegetarian diet you should no reason to question it.
Honestly, google vegetarianism, there is no medical reason at all why a child on a healthy vegetarian diet should be any less healthy than a meat eating child. That is my point.

I think essentially we agree, but I do believe you misunderstand a vegetarian diet. It is not restrictive and should not in any way be detrimental to health.

We both agree that a poor diet is damaging.

Are there any doctors that can tell us whether they find a vegetarian diet a cause for concern? Genuinely interested, I would have thought they would only see a cause for concern if iron/protein levels were low.

Are they underweight ?

Eating chock and crisps in front of the DC whilst not letting them have any: Not mad but certainly is cruel.

Can't comment on whether the kids have a balanced diet otherwise, I know of worse (where parents are tearing their hair out because of super fussy toddlers).

The rest is personal preference and not stuff that worries me.

Is the kid called Mouser? I really would revel like some more gory details, OP.