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?

Her son's diet would have been just as bad if she was a meat eater.. the issue is that she doesn't understand how to provide a balanced diet, not that she omits meat.

DH and I are veggies, DD will raises as such too. She will be welcome to try meat if and when she wants to, but we won't be cooking it at home.

Absolutely nothing wrong with raising children as vegetarians, just because it's not the 'norm' doesn't mean it's wrong, or selfish.

You seem to think she shouldn’t impose her views and lifestyle on her child yet are comfortable saying what she should be doing. You don’t, perhaps, see some irony in that?

He needs more leafy green vegetables!

YABU!!

@RomanyRoots, of course there’s a belief - something along the lines of ‘animals taste good to me so I don’t mind that they have to suffer and die for me to enjoy eating them’. I think that’s a pretty big belief informing decisions in your life.

That said, when my little one is older, if she understands that animals have to suffer for her to eat them and she still wants to do so, I will respect her choice, but at 2 I don’t believe she can make this choice for herself.

There's about 100 women on my Facebook who have young kids.
They eat meat and they make sure their kids do too.
Most of them have high cholesterol and their kids will do too when they're older (if they don't already)....and the doctors say it's because of their diets, and end up having to give them medicine to every day.

AIBU to think kids should be able to make decisions when they're older about whether they want to eat red meat and not have it forced upon them?

P.S. OP is a troll.

Also the idea of not "imposing" your beliefs on your kids is ridiculous. We all do it in basically every aspect of our lives. We raise our kids in our own image, based on our own opinions. I tell my kids there is probably no god, I tell them school is important, I tell them to respect others, I tell them smoking is bad, I tell them to recycle, I tell them not to go to bed too late, etc. etc. etc.

He doesn’t need lentils or leafy greens. He needs supplements.

I don't think bringing up a child vegetarian is an issue. Giving them a poor diet though, is a problem. Good and poor diets are possible in vegetarian, veganism, omnivourism and pescatarianism. You need to check your nutrients in all of these.

We're an entirely vegetarian household. My son is 11 and has never had meat; nor has he ever had any type of nutritional deficiency. Many vegetarians are much more aware of the importance of a balanced diet than meat-eaters (and that's not me waffling - that's a direct quote from my hospital consultant when I was anaemic due to massive blood loss). My DS has a much healthier and more varied diet than most of his peers, has only needed to see his GP twice in his life, the first time being when he was nearly 10, and competes at national level at a very physically and mentally demanding sport. A healthy, balanced, varied vegetarian diet doesn't seem to be doing him any harm whatsoever, thank you very much.

What a click bait-y headline. YBU. Being a vegetarian has no bearing on iron levels. Bad diets cause lack of nutrition levels and obviously bad diets happen regardless of being vegetarian, vegan, meat eater or whatever. Which I'm sure you know.

Also, I became a vegetarian when I was 6 or 7 years old. Entirely my own choice and all my family ate meat. My Mum very unselfishly respected my wishes and cooked me meals without meat, which I'm massively grateful for now. I'm still vegetarian.

My son had low iron till around age 5 which only became normal after several years of supplements. He is a meat eater who has a good diet ( it was checked) and isn't a fussy eater.

Glintandglide. Pills aren't absorbed the same as leafy greens and other natural food so should only be a last resort.

YANBU

Vegetarianism is a lifestyle choice. Homo sapiens is an omnivore. I understand why some people avoid meat for ethical reasons but imo it's a choice you make as an adult or when you are old enough to make such choices, fully informed of the pros and cons.

I bet she buys him leather shoes.

I don't eat meat but I've let all 4 of my children eat it if they want to. I did eat it as a child, but made the decision not too in my late teens.

I have NEVER heard of a vegetarian buying leather shoes.

My three year old has a vegetarian diet although as a family we are not vegetarians. She dislikes the taste and texture of all meats. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sadly That’s rubbish starzig- sounds good though doesn’t it?

What about vegetarian dads?

I bet she buys him leather shoes

Assuming he exists

You are being very unreasonable to tar all vegetarians with the same brush. This is about the diet of one child, not all vegetarian diets.

It doesn't matter if they buy their kids leather shoes anyway. That's a logical fallacy called the "appeal to hypocrisy". It's irrelevant.

YADBU in your thread title! I'm a 'vegetarian mum' but my DC were gnawing on chicken legs before they had teeth! Not in the least bit selfish.

@QueenoftheNights a vegetarian diet is omnivorous, as it includes eggs and dairy. All diets provided by parents for their children who are too young to sensibly choose are lifestyle choices. Doesn't make them more or less valid.

Well I’m not vegetarian and never have been, nor vegan but dd was brought up vegetarian for the first year of her life. Guess I’m really selfish!