To think it’s not right to bring a baby up as a vegetarian?

[veggiesup]

Surely a baby/child should have all food available until they can make their own decisions?

As long as child is thriving and their nutrition needs are being met, it's nobody else's business what their diet looks like.

Unless you're a professional with an input into the child's life, wind your neck back in and mind your own business.

I massively disagree it's very very common in Hindu, Sikh communities (become some religious people think it's immortal to kill animals). Enforcing veganism is a step too far but you can be a healthy vegetarian and get your protein from elsewhere.

they're not really available where I live...

Personally - I think it is so wrong and so selfish. I have been witness to the ‘ we’re raising our child vegan ‘ brigade and I think - this is horrendous and beyond selfish.

That is my opinion. So before I get slammed - it’s just what I think.

Nah, as long as the child I'd fed it's nobodies business.
Surely you wouldn't say to a Jewish family, "you are denying your child the right to eat a bacon sarnie"?

The ideal human diet is an absolute pile of vegetables, lots of seeds and nuts, some fruit, occasional meat and a small bit of grains. Obviously, the vast majority of people's diets look very different to this whether they are veggie/vegan or not. As long as the child is properly fed and growing well I see no issue.

I think the kid should have broadly the same diet as their parents until they’re old enough to choose otherwise

my ds has been veggie since the age of 5 which has been a right faff but we support his choice

But why? What is the actual issue if a child is being given a balanced diet that meets their nutritional needs?

I'm biased as I'm vegetarian, but I would be willing to bet that the DC being raised vegetarian have a much better diet than those being raised as meat eaters.

I do think eating meat is the default in the UK and I always think that making a 'decision' about what you eat and what you feed your DC indicates much more engagement with nutrition.

You can have really balanced and nutritious vegetarian diet. I think it's fine.

I'm veggie and never cooked meat for my kids but they were free to eat it at school or at friends' houses - but mostly they didn't want to. They're now young adults and firmly vegetarian.

If that child being raised vegan was having their nutritional needs met through a diet of plant based alternatives and supplements, would you still have a problem with it?

People are just ignorant. We’re so indoctrinated to believe certain foods are just the way we should be eating.

DD was vegan from age 2-4, she hit all her development normally, has been top of her class in a lot of subjects, and grew super fast! I’m not going to lie and say a vegan diet for children is as easy as a meat eaters, is isn’t; it’s more expensive and you have to consider where they’re getting all the nutrients from. Flax seeds, chia seeds in smoothies and breakfast, added to yoghurt, hummus, tofu etc all makes up their protein needs. The only thing we have to supplement is B12, that is it. And there’s vegan versions for everything these days, it’s not like they’d even miss out.

I would.

I am being honest and giving my opinion.
I truly feel it is so so wrong go bring a child up vegan and I too believe it is wrong to bring up a child as a veggie .

I know it’s not PC for me to say that and I respect it is everyone’s choice but I think it’s beyond selfish .

No child should have one food group excluded from its diet ( in my opinion ) .

That is my view. I am not a dr ! I am merely a teacher and a mother.

But they’re not having one food group excluded, though. Protein is available in lots of different foods, not just meat.

I'm vegan but my son is vegetarian and eats cheese/eggs and drinks milk but he has started pushing back and doesn't want to eat anything that's come from an animal. I'm really disorganised but feel I should be adhering to his wishes, so best start becoming more organised! It's funny because a lot of kids I know who eat meat eat it in the form of chicken nuggets and fish fingers etc. That can't be much healthier.

As long as the child is happy and their nutritional needs are being met it really shouldn't matter.

I’m so ignorant for having an opinion which you don’t agree with. I didn’t say that children raised as vegans are malnourished etc !!!!! I said I think it’s selfish and wrong and to raise a child as a vegan Or veggie .
That is my opinion .

It is like me saying - Vegan parents are so ignorant and believe the bollocks fed to them by the media that ….

People are allowed their own opinions. Just because your view is different don’t attack.

What food group is being excluded?

What do you mean by "all food" though? Surely all parents make decisions about what to feed their children, and these choices will be dictated to a large extent by what the parents themselves eat.

For example, if you choose not to eat horse or rabbit, would you make a point of feeding these to your children until they are old enough to make their own decisions about whether or not they want to eat them? Or would you simply give them alternative foods that you do eat that meet their nutritional requirements just as effectively?

Meat eating parents impose their choices on their children every bit as much as vegetarian parents impose theirs. The difference is that you perceive eating meat as somehow being the default, so you don't recognise that you're doing it.

My 18yo dd has never tried meat. We don't eat meat at home so we wouldn't have bought it specially for her. However, we always made it very clear that she was free to choose meat when we were out at restaurants or when she was eating with family and friends etc. She never wanted to, but I actually think she has had more freedom to choose than most. She might change her mind in the future or she might not. I genuinely don't mind either way...as long as she is healthy and happy, that's all I care about.

As my eldest is currently going through a stage of refusing all vegetables I would say, in my house at least, you are definitely correct.

A thread by the meat marketing board I see.

Dairy for a vegan .

At school
we have had so many cases of children begging for a piece of sausage or chocolate as they aren’t allowed them.
it is heart breaking to me to watch.

This is about vegetarians not vegans?

Also you are aware there are vegan sausages and chocolate available? Some of it in nicer than the standard version. I’m sure you know that given that given your view shouldn’t be restricted in what they eat so you must give them these products too.

Unless the child's blood tests show vitamin deficiencies or the children are really underweight and not developing as they should then I don't see an issue with raising a child as a vegetarian. I am a vegetarian and my child will be mostly veggie but she will also have some meat (my DP, her dad, eats meat). Most humans are omnivores.

I don't agree with raw veganism and other restrictive diets. Also, vegetarianism isn't necessarily more environmentally friendly. There are also lots of processed vegan foods so it's not necessarily healthier. It depends on what you eat.