Raising your kids vegetarian.

[whatdoyouthinkaboutit]

Raising vegetarian children. It's something I feel strongly on. I'd like a more balanced view, hearing others' opinions. Discuss.

I was brought up vegetarian. I am still veggie now but I wish I had the choice as a child. My siblings used to eat meat out of the house and lied about it because even though it wasn't strictly disallowed they knew it would disappoint my parents. To the people who are making their children eat different foods to their friends remember that what they say to your face might not be how they're actually feeling about it.

I think it’s exceptionally unfair on the children and you’re forcing them into it.

But why? What's your justification for saying it's unfair?! I just can't wrap my head around why people think it's unfair to raise kids as vegetarians but not unfair to raise them on exclusively organic or on meat or on halal or on kosher or on limited sugar or on any number of other dietary decisions parents make all the time!

I’m veggie so we don’t eat meat at home. If we’re out or at friends house I will offer meat to my boy if it’s going (I did today even), but he always rejects it. I guess he is not used to the texture and flavor. Or maybe he wouldn’t like it anyway. He’s 2.5 years old. His diet is good and balanced, and he is happy and healthy. I don’t see a problem with him not routinely eating meat.

I’m veggie. DH isn’t. We’ve decided that DS can make his own decisions when he’s old enough, because I don’t want to make them for him on this issue. We’re going to be honest with him about where his food comes from, and why I choose not to eat meat, and he can make his own mind up.

LeahJack any choice a parent makes has a moral element to it, so don't be so naive to say things like that. Also note the quote - has never felt the desire. This was merely in response to another poster. How in any way does that suggest she will never ever try anything else?

As for blindly follow suit, children are more than capable of challenging parental decisions. But as I said vegetarianism seems to evoke a particular response from some parents.

Same as PatchworkElmer in my house.

No issues with vegetarian diets at all. I don’t agree with Vegan diets at all however.

My son is 4 1/2 months old. I'm veggie. DH is a meat eater in restaurants but has no desire to eat it at home. His other future daytime caregivers - PIL and DSis, are all veggie. He will eat veggie food at home and will be considered a veggie at nursery.
Once he is old enough to decide for himself, he can do so. If he wants to try sausage rolls, chicken nuggets etc at parties, then so be it.
The same will apply for future children and if I end up outnumbered by meat eaters and they want it included in meals at home, I will find a way to do so, keeping mine veggie!
I made the choice to be veggie and have no intention to force my children either way.

Well that’s just imposing your values

Everyone brings their children up within their own values and morals. It is impossible to bring children up in a moral-free value-free vacuum.

People banging on about imposing values and morals only ever do this for values and morals they don't personally hold. They never really bang on about indoctrination for parents who bring their children up not to regard women as inferior to men (women's equality is a very new idea) or to be anti-racist, or not to use violence to resolve disputes with friends. All of these are moral positions.

What's your position on it then OP? Are you for or against raising kids veggie?

I was bought up veggie and I think we all impose our values on our children anyway so not sure it is an argument.
I started eating meat as part of teenage rebellion and haven’t stopped but dont eat meat often and am fussy about source.

I think a child now will have a much better time then I did, having to eat nut roast and lentils as parties whilst the other kids had chips etc was pretty rough but these days think general awareness is much greater.

I don't think a vegetarian diet will be of any detriment to a child but the parent needs to do their research. A vegan diet can be especially risky for a child if the parents are not doing their research about it.. A child in Belgium died not long ago because the child had vegan parents who were not feeding the child properly...

I've naturally acquired an aversion to meat and dairy. Being vegan wasn't some big decision I made, it was just the food I enjoyed to eat and I didn't want to force my way of eating on my DD. I let my DD sample all kinds of foods from the get-go and weirdly my DD also has a natural tendency towards veg and fruit and an aversion to meat although she likes dairy. Since I realized she will not eat meat (but happily eat a whole packet of asparagus in one sitting!) I wrote up a massive chart of all the vitamins and minerals needed for optimum health, you have to really research it all. I base my weekly shops on foods that provide certain nutritional benefits etc and I have my chart up in my kitchen. I just did not want to force meat on my DD when neither of us even enjoy it... DD's super healthy and notably advanced in most respects

Vegan and vegetarian parents here DC all raised with meat included in their diet. Eldest DC has at ages 5, 6 and 7 briefly contemplated giving up meat but chosen not to. The others are too young to decide but one actively avoids meat where possible so I can't imagine it will be long before she stops eating it altogether. Our view was for our children to make their own choices, but equally we could have raised them vegetarian and given them the choice to eat meat when they were older. Vegan felt too extreme for us personally.

I dont want to make a choice or moral judgement for my kids on this issue (I am Veggie, DH isn't) so we are raising the kids as meat eaters as that is the societal norm. I'd rather they opt out of eating meat understanding the reasons why and making a positive choice. Eldest DS is 7 and knows what I don't eat (including things like gelatine as well as meat) and understands why although not in any detail. He gets meat at school although often chooses the veggie choice anyway, compared to most kids he has a diet that is very low in meat. However if both DH and I were veggie then we would raise them veggie as I wouldn't cook them meat just for the sake of it.

Why do people think it’s cruel for heavens sake? What about those parts of the world where vegetarianism is the norm? Are all those parents ‘cruel’? How ridiculous.

I’m vegetarian, DP is not but eats mostly veggie because that’s the easiest way to get us both fed (I’ve nothing against him keeping or cooking meat in the house, initially I would offer to cook it for him separately but he’s always said not to bother which now I’m glad of as over time I’ve realised I’d rather not). We’re ttc - we’re speaking about what we’ll do if we are successful, I’d imagine that I’ll continue to shop and cook vegetarian meals at home, and once our child is old enough to choose when outside the home they can make their own choices.

Are you for or against? It's perfectly normal and widely accepted in this day and age

I'm mostly vegetarian (eating fish occasionally) but DH eats meat. DD is 16 months old. We generally cook vegetarian but DH (and now DD) will have meat at barbecues, when eating out etc.

I won't go out of my way to feed DD meat, but will let her have it when it's on the table anyway.

When she's old enough to ask about my food choices I will explain them in an age appropriate way and she can make her own decisions.

My main concern is to introduce her to a range of interesting food, although at the moment that is not going to well (pasta is king)....

I wouldn't force my choices on food on my kids in that way personally. I don't eat meat but my kids eat what they want outside of the home. As soon as they can understand it we discuss the subject of meat eating and they decide. One is a definite meat eater (the oldest one).

My brother is 38 became a vegetarian at 9 years old. He's 6ft 6 and certainly hasn't done him any harm! 2 of his 4 dc are also vegetarian.

Other brother is not a vegetarian and I only eat chicken so they call me a "chickentarian" which annoys me!

My ds is 15 and loves meat but my dd is 7 is the same as me, only chicken, her choice.

One of her school friends couldn't believe she's never eaten a burger/hotdog/sausage roll etc at a recent class party.

I'm not super strict with food at all and allow everything in moderation but give my children the choice of whether to eat meat or not. I have no problem cooking meat based meals for ds and dp.

I'm a meat eater and I think it's fine. Probably healthier diet if properly done

Been veggie for over 20 years, sons and daughters are veggie too but it was their choice. One son dipped in and out of it for years but is now vegan. Youngest son came home triumphantly from a children's party years ago and stated he had had sausage rolls but he knew they were veggie 'because he tasted them'. My grandson will be raised on vegetarian diet because that is what my daughter wants and her husband agrees even though he eats meat. My mother had bowel cancer and died very young and there are established links to meat eating and bowel cancer in my family.

Zoflorabore - your comment about your brother's height reminds me, that the health visitor I mentioned, warned us that raising DS1 on a vegetarian diet "will stunt his growth."

DS1 is already 6ft 3, at 15-years old. He said to us, "if it stunts growth, good job too, otherwise who knows how tall I'd be by now!"

DH and I are vegetarian. We cook veggie only at home. At school our 6 year old often chooses the meat option. At birthday parties he eats cocktail sausages and sausage rolls. Who cares? He knows DH and I are veggie and we don’t eat meat at home but obviously he also knows it’s his decision when out and about.

Well, I was raised as a meat eater, and if I could turn back the clock, I'd have liked my parents to do it differently so that I could have made a properly informed choice to eat meat, but I accept that eating meat was the norm for them and it never even occurred to them to give me that choice. We all make choices as parents, some of which our children may disagree with.

I've always told my dc that she can eat whatever she likes outside the house, and we don't make a big deal about eating dead animals etc. So far, she chooses to stay veggie, but if she decides at any point in the future that she'd like to eat meat, then I shan't mind in the slightest. I choose not to eat meat myself but am not militant about it and couldn't actually care less what other people choose to eat.

And they tell me they are pleased about the choice I made for them.

RaininSummer Of course they do; you’ve indoctrinated them.

Feeding meat is also 'forcing' your choices.

Except that by feeding them meat, you’re not cutting off the majority of meals in the world.

By forcing them to be vegetarian, you are taking most food items off the menu. Eating meat doesn’t do that.