To think vegetarian mums are selfish?

[lisabd345]

There's a woman on my Facebook who has a son 6 years old.
She's a vegetarian and she's made sure her son is too.
She's just posted that her son is suffering from iron deficiency and GP has said it's probably due to his diet and the fact he doesn't eat meat....and the GP has gave him medication to take every day and he is crying about it ..so she's asking what to feed him to bring iron levels up.
Aibu to think he should make a decision when he's older if he wants to be vegetarian and not have it forced upon him?

[AssassinatedBeauty]

Can I check that you include families who are vegetarian for religious reasons, or who have other diets that exclude certain meat products? Or is that somehow different?

[pennydrew]

So you think children should be allowed to choose whatever they want, even if it was coke and chips every meal? Weird.

[FleasSitOnPeas]

My two year old won’t eat meat through choice, not for ethical reasons obviously, as he has no understanding of this, he just rejects it all. I think it’s the texture and strong flavour. It used to go in his mouth then straight back out, now he recognises it and won’t even touch it. Although recently he has accepted fish.

I’m not at all bothered - how selfish of me! His iron levels are fine, his diet is fine.

[MrsKnickers12]

pennydrew - don't be silly, why on earth would you say that!

Of course a balanced and varied diet is more preferable. Choice can and does include healthy foods you know

Weirdo!

[MrsKnickers12]

Pennydrew

Ahh, just read the other bits of the thread, It makes sense now, you are one of those posters who likes to cause a stir. Say no more

[flowergrrl77]

Due to various health needs, I had my eldest sons diet checked when he was a toddler, turned out being veggie wasnt the issue but a genetic disorder. I am vegetarian, so is my husband. I see NO reason to feed my 3 children animal products, but I must be sure to cover all food groups, and I know I do!

I do not force ANY of my children to be vegetarian, they are welcome to eat meat at school or at friends/family homes. ONE of the three chooses to, the next, I am pretty sure will end up vegan. The last is a lazy vegetarian, as in, eats haribo etc - I figure, so long as I am honest as to what gelatine is, its up to her if she consumes it elsewhere.

There is NO need for me to provide these things IN my house, but neither will I force anything on them, they are people with their own choices. So long as I provide enough nutrients for health, the rest is up to them.

NOTE! not RTFT!

[MumUnderTheMoon]

Yes you are being unreasonable. People are raising children on atrociously unhealthy diets which include meat and their kids are nutrient deficient rickets is even on the rise again. My dd is veggie and has been since birth, she eats a varied diet and is healthy and happy.

[ToftyAC]

The issue here isn’t really vegetarianism - it’s that she’s not feeding her child an appropriate diet

[strawberrisc]

OP hit and run. Smacks of the Daily Fail.

[wtfhaveijustread]

If anything I think it's selfish people including my self give children meat when they don't no where it come from.

When my daughter does find out it will prolly destroy her as she loves animals :(

[FurryDice]

The problem is that you automatically assume that the natural and normal thing to be is non-vegetarian and that people should start off by being non-vegetarian then explore whether or not they want to be vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian or kosher. This is wrong. There are many vegetarian people in the world who have been vegetarian from birth

Well said @improve12

[FurryDice]

Sorry, if I could edit, I would. Should have said @Improve12

[pennydrew]

MrsKnickers12 No, I’m one of those posters who likes to provide accurate information- I know it’s hard for people like you to deal with facts though. The person causing a stir is the OP who wrote a judgemental post and ran.

[Fowles94]

Vegetarian isn't the issue. He just obviously needs more spinach, egg.

[Fowles94]

Not egg 😂 etc

[KarmaStar]

Come on,everyone,agree to disagree.The poster was being goady and is sat back enjoying this.don't give them any more fun by continuing on this post.

[Leapfrog44]

It's probably not the vegetarian diet it's just poorly planned. There are a lot of healthy foods that interfere with iron absorption (such as pulses or milk) and ways to increase your iron levels by combining foods correctly.

Before you point the finger, just look at all the meat eating kids who are bought up on a poor diet. You might well say anyone who has an overweight child is selfish. I see parents feeding their little tubsters packets of biscuits or happy meals after school.

It's just general ignorance, not vegetarianism!

[Geraldine170]

The issue here isn’t really vegetarianism - it’s that she’s not feeding her child an appropriate diet

This. And if it’s things like B12 and iron, if she isn’t capable of doing that with a vegetarian diet she should add some meat. A child’s health should be prioritised above principles.

[pennydrew]

Geraldine170 You don’t need to add meat for either of those nutrients, as I’ve made clear by including expert advice on the subject.

[Geraldine170]

penny you don’t need to no. But this mother clearly isn’t capable of doing that. If she’s not capable of understanding how to feed her child a balanced vegetarian diet then she needs to find another way of getting the nutrients in him that is easy to do and understand. Which is adding meat.

[SerenStar0]

I like meat - my children love sausage rolls and chicken drum sticks 😀

[pennydrew]

Geraldine170 You’ve obviously missed my earlier posts here regarding diet and iron deficiency. It’s often actually not dietary, and the incidence of it isn’t higher in vegetarian children. So if the OP was actually wanting to help, which is clearly not the case, then he advice should be to work with their GP on finding the cause of the issue. What would you say if a meat eating child had iron deficiency? Which happens at the same rate- clearly showing that eating meat does in fact not make it easier.

[pennydrew]

chickenanbeanz Your ‘opinion’ is fake news. Every major Dietetic Association in the world approves of a vegan diet.


scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=american+dietetic+association+vegan&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart#d=gs_qabs&p=&u=%23p%3DzzWTVLCcsXgJ

Abstract :

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes. A vegetarian diet is defined as one that does not include meat (including fowl) or seafood, or products containing those foods. This article reviews the current data related to key nutrients for vegetarians including protein, n-3 fatty acids, iron, zinc, iodine, calcium, and vitamins D and B-12. A vegetarian diet can meet current recommendations for all of these nutrients. In some cases, supplements or fortified foods can provide useful amounts of important nutrients. An evidence- based review showed that vegetarian diets can be nutritionally adequate in pregnancy and result in positive maternal and infant health outcomes. The results of an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates. Features of a vegetarian diet that may reduce risk of chronic disease include lower intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol and higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, soy products, fiber, and phytochemicals. The variability of dietary practices among vegetarians makes individual assessment of dietary adequacy essential. In addition to assessing dietary adequacy, food and nutrition professionals can also play key roles in educating vegetarians about sources of specific nutrients, food purchase and preparation, and dietary modifications to meet their



Iron
The iron in plant foods is nonheme iron, which is sensitive to both inhibi- tors and enhancers of iron absorption. Inhibitors of iron absorption include phytates, calcium, and the polypheno- lics in tea, coffee, herb teas, and cocoa. Fiber only slightly inhibits iron absorp- tion (19). Some food preparation tech- niques such as soaking and sprouting beans, grains, and seeds, and the leav- ening of bread, can diminish phytate levels (20) and thereby enhance iron absorption (21,22). Other fermentation processes, such as those used to make miso and tempeh, may also improve iron bioavailability (23).
Vitamin C and other organic acids found in fruits and vegetables can substantially enhance iron absorp- tion and reduce the inhibitory effects of phytate and thereby improve iron status (24,25). Because of lower bio- availability of iron from a vegetarian diet, the recommended iron intakes for vegetarians are 1.8 times those of nonvegetarians (26).
Whereas many studies of iron ab-
sorption have been short term, there is evidence that adaptation to low in- takes takes place over the long term, and involves both increased absorp- tion and decreased losses (27,28). In- cidence of iron-deficiency anemia among vegetarians is similar to that of nonvegetarians (12,29). Although vegetarian adults have lower iron stores than nonvegetarians, their se- rum ferritin levels are usually within the normal range (29,30).

[LydiaLunch9]

It upsets me when parents indoctrinate their children who are to young to understand all the facts/pros and cons/ethicsnot to eat chocolate every day. However if a child just doesn't enjoy chocolate and prefers vegetables etc., then that to me is acceptable. I don't think it is wrong of people to raise children on mostly chocolate, as the human species evolved as omnivorous, so to me eating chocolate is a choice a child can opt out of if they don't like chocolate while a "healthy diet" is for the child to opt in to