To think veganism is not for children?

[ohhhhlivia]

Yes, I am aware that it is perfectly possible to have a healthy vegan diet at any age. I know that.

However, it is more difficult and easier to get wrong if you want to be vegan. It still is restrictive (even with all of the new stuff coming out) as in you need to tell hosts, check menus in advance etc.

It's a barrier that has to be overcome. I don't understand why you would do that to someone who has no choice in the matter.

Lots of kids go through a fussy phase too, add veganism in and surely you're at a high risk of health problems?

I think what I'm getting at, is that childhood nutrition can be hard enough as it is, so it just feels wrong to make it harder for reasons that do not directly benefit the child.

There are benefits to being vegan. I’m not going to bother listing them because a quick google search or some thought will help you figure that out.

Your clearly not a vegan yet you seem to have all these ideas on what it’s like for a vegan child. My twins are almost adults now and even through their childhood when they obtained more freedom could have decided to not be vegan anymore, haven’t. They didn’t feel left out.

There are sweets that aren’t vegan. There is food out there that isn’t vegan.

rather is vegan.

it's restricting their involvement with many social occasions

It really isn’t. There are lots of foods they can share. And lots of alternatives they can have alongside.

Scarfing sausage rolls is not necessary for full participation in social occasions.

YABU. I’m not vegan (I like milk in my coffee too much!) but try to eat meat free a few days a week. I have vegan friends though, and some of their vegan kids are the healthiest dc I know! It doesn’t cause issues at parties, as hosts and parents work together.

@crispycrisis

So I'm racist now? That is exactly what you're implying btw.

Some elements of veganism really are bordering on the religious.

She didn’t imply that at all! Are you ok?

Just remembering what was on the table of the last vegan kids party we went to - mainly biscuits, sweets, pizza (with vegan cheese), vegan sausage rolls, cucumber, carrots, Quorn nuggets & ketchup, fruit, jam tarts and cheese crackers. Was hard to tell the difference from a normal kids party. I don't like vegan sausages/cheese, but my 5 & 2 year old didn't seem to notice the difference. I don't think it's the major barrier you think it is. I have no problems making sure there are vegan options for friends no matter how old they are.

You have to ask yourself OP, why do you care so much what other people feed their children?

Given that it’s not a choice public health officials / social services (lmao) have any problem with?

My DD is 12 months and has been vegan from conception. She was born full term at 7lb 10oz after an easy pregnancy and home birth. She is on 50th percentile for height and weight.

I saw a dietician (privately) when I started weaning and she wasn't concerned at all - the only vitamins DD takes are the same for all children under 5. I also take a DHA supplement which DD then receives through breastfeeding.

It is no more me forcing my views on her, than any parent who feeds their child in the way they eat. Meat eaters force their beliefs on their children, just unfortunately we live in a society where currently those beliefs are more common, so some don't realise they are still just beliefs.

If I took the same logic as some posters on this thread I'd be reporting parents here there and everywhere for forcing their poor children to eat ground up bits of animal in the shape of a sausage, when it's been proven time and time again that processed meat is a huge risk factor for several types of cancer. If that isn't endangering children's health I don't know what is.

Obviously I would never do that because a) SS wouldn't care b) I'm not insane and c) people are free to bring their children up in line with their beliefs providing they aren't abusing the child.

Vegans tend to be more aware of their diet, both macro and micro nutrients than a lot of meat eaters so vegan children are probably eating a more balanced and nutritionally sound diet than a lot of children being brought up omni. No one seems to blink an eye at parents feeding their kids fish fingers and chips 5 nights a week - but as we always see on mumsnet people become nutritional experts whenever someone mentions veganism.

Some of this thread is bonkers. Personally, I’d prefer my children to have as wide a variety of food as possible and vegan Ian will never be for me but as others have shown, vegans can be perfectly healthy. Talk of social services is just ridiculous. And, I suspect many vegan children have a better diet than lots of non-vegan children. I have no idea why veganism would be a social challenge re parties. Just thinking to my daughter’s last party, most food was veggie and a good chunk would have been vegan without trying. If I’d have had a vegan child, I’d have made sure there was some dairy free cake for them, some Oreos and tried to find some dairy free bread. It’s not really that much effort to include children with dietary preferences.

Just FYI for anyone going on about B12 - one in five meat-eating adults are deficient in it anyway!

Biology dictates that humans are not designed to be vegans. I would not raise a child on a vegan diet, nor eat a vegan diet myself.

1.) TEETH. All omnivores (ie humans) have incisors, molars and small canines. Carnivores have much bigger canines. Herbivores have no canines at all.

2.) EYES. All animals that need to hunt have eyes in the front of their skull (ie any animal that eats meat as part of their diet). Think lions, dogs, humans, etc. All animals that only eat vegetation have eyes on the side of their skull- think sheep, horses, guinea pigs, etc.

The debate about ethical sourcing of meat is a different one altogether...

I haven't said you're racist I think you're being very defensive because your theory is so ridiculous and so easily pulled apart.

You are singling our vegan children as a group of people with different food intake to your own family and you state you can't bond with them.

Many other groups of people have different food intakes such as Jewish and Muslim as I have pointed out.

This should be you opening your eyes and accepting you can bond with other people despite their food choices. Not you stating I'm calling you a racist. Only you know if that's true?

Biology dictates that humans are not designed to be vegans.

We weren’t designed to consume dairy either, yet no one seems to have an issue with that.

@Broom19 if you're biologically meant to drink other milk would you let your newborn nurse from the teat of a dairy cow?

Vegan here and I would not choose it for my young children whilst they are growing and developing at such a rapid rate.

No nutritionist worth their salt would ever recommend a vegan diet for young children or cutting out any food groups completely.

Children are often fussy and if I restricted my children to the vegan foods we have they wouldn't eat anything so we offer them as varied a diet as possible with whatever we are having too.

Vitamins and supplements are also not as well absorbed as getting them naturally straight from a food source, a lot of studies show that absorption from vitamins is sub-par and just doesnt happen.

For all the people anecdotally saying "oh my kids are vegan and as healthy as anything" my anecdotal story to add is that a mother that I know who turned vegan also chose this lifestyle for her 9 month old twins. The father was dead against it and it was a constant battle. Both children have always been on the small side but one started to look jaundice and really Ill one day. She eventually took her to a&e after a friend pointed it out and it was thought initially the child had leukaemia, turns out after a lot of testing she was massively malnourished and anaemic. Both twins at 2 years weighed the same as a 9 month old. The other twins test results weren't great either but not as far gone as the other daughter was. Father divorced the mother who still after all of this chose to keep her children vegan despite medical instructions not to and to stop immediately.

tried to find some dairy free bread

Vast majority of bread is dairy free BTW

@crispycrisis I didn't mention dairy? Referring purely to whether or not mammals are designed to have meat in their diets, based on biological features.

However, humans are the only mammals who drink milk from another mammal/ drink milk beyond infant life... in essence it's not a natural thing to do! Therefore, if someone said they were raising their child dairy-free, I do not know of any biological reasons why this would not make sense. Raising a child on vegan diet, or even vegetarian diet, does raise questions in my opinion.

I eat meat but not dairy - I have far, far more problems with dairy rather than meat. If I was an animal I'd rather be killed than impregnated year after year and having my child taken away from me. Vegetarianism doesn't really make sense to me TBH. Either be vegan or just eat meat and be done with it.

it's restricting their involvement with many social occasions. Simple things, like sharing a random bag of sweets from the shop. That stuff does matter.
So what about those with religious diets, allergies or intolerances, ocd (unable time share food) or even fussy eaters? They all seem to do this “social lubrication dance” you’re so wound up on?

Maybe if we didn’t involve good in every occasion then there wouldn’t be so many morbidly obese children?

*food not good

@Broom19 do you think you could use your teeth / bare hands / 'technique' to chase, catch and bite through an animal?

crazyoldmurice

So many stories of malnourished vegan babies. There was a famous court case against an Australian couple whose 20month old girl was so severely malnourished she weighted kg4. Had no teeth or walked properly.
I really want to know just what goes on inside the minds of these parents? This is severe neglect , I mean if you see your child malnourished as a result of the diet you are forcing upon them, then it’s time to stop, and just let them decide when they are older.

parents with healthy vegan babies must be using a lot of supplements which non vegan babies can do without, because they get the nutrients from the animal products they consume.

I also think a lot of vegan food is over-processed, and just not as healthy as eating animal products.

*weighed! Not weighted obvs!