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 don’t know why veggie and vegan parents get judged so harshly. All parents make decisions for their kids and ‘enforce’ things on them that they see to be in their best interests be it food choices, education, religion etc.

I think not eating animals is a sound ethical choice for the animals, planet and for health; veggie and vegan parents are generally very well clued up on correct nutrition, certainly more so than the ones who shout the loudest that it is limiting, restricted or imposing. I know for a fact some of those parents are the ones whose DCs weekly diet staples are McDonalds, pop and haribos - yet no one says a thing to them about their child’s nutrition .

When you think what goes in to a hot dog and yet people judge you for feeding your child delicious and nutritious food it’s infuriating. I actually think it is less ethical to feed your child a known carcinogen, but yet you don’t hear us yelling at people (in RL ) about what they feed their kids.

Hospital wards are not full of people suffering the effects of a protein restricted diet, they are full of people, increasingly even teenagers who have diet related ill health. The things killings us are heart attacks, diabetes, obesity. Well that’s not what I want for my kids so please respect my choices, I’ve yet to hear a single shred of evidence that my kids need meat.

Fine,but spare me the grandstanding
I’m adult, I went veggie at 18.i will let my kids chose

lipstick no grandstanding to you, I hadn’t even read your post when I posted . It’s a thread in AIBU, not a personal attack on you.

DD and ds were brought up veggie. Ds 16 is now vegan.

I didn’t perceive I was being attacked,your post It was just so preachy
In context of thread as op asked I gave my POV

lipstick that’s fine I can cope with being preachy after years of being told how cruel/ restrictive/ dangerous/ selfish it is to not give kids flesh. I think I’ve earnt the right to have my say and defend my view points.

And in no way am I restricting your right to express POV
However inherent in your free speech is you must expect a challenge

We had this discussion. Our children are being raised to have a normal diet so that they feel able to eat whatever they think is right in the future. And it also means that we can avoid the awkward 'but x from school ears meat, does that mean he is bad/eats unhealthily?'. From experience (banned from pork as a child) I know that 'x is just different from us' doesn't cut it.

@ticcinalong we also have chosen to raise our children without telling them that x religion is correct because we don't believe that it is acceptable to enforce these kinds of things on children, not sure why you think it's OK

I was raised veggie in a veggie/vegan household, but started eating meat in my teens. Looking back, it was probably because it was an easy way to rebel - I went to MacDonalds and felt deeply wicked. I also developed an ED but I think that was to do with my DM's controlling attitude to my eating in general.

I was one of five kids, and I think three of us eat meat now, two have stayed veggie into adulthood. Nutritionally, it wasn't a big deal. Not great if it's part of a pattern of micro-managing your kids though.

Racecar I don’t raise my children as a religion either so I have no idea what you are getting at with that. But millions of people do, and are not criticised or condemned for it, as they believe it is what is best for their children.
Just like I believe eating meat is not what is best for my children.

Hi, I haven’t read all the comments because there are lots! I’m a vegan, which I wasn’t when I had my daughter, but if I could go back this is how I would raise her, it’s only the milk and meat industry and those paid to endorse them who will try and convince you that any other way is healthier. Meat and dairy free done properly is the healthiest way,