To think that parents shouldn’t force their children to follow their dietary preferences?

[TVD2103]

I’ll start by saying that I am a vegetarian, I haven’t eaten meat for years. I have a child who likes meat, therefore I always buy them the snacks and meals that they enjoy, I don’t restrict their eating at all just because I choose not to eat it.

I follow someone on social media, for recipe inspirations, they have a child younger than mine (I would say maybe 6 or 7?) and they mainly eat raw vegan food. They also have a toddler and they make both the children eat the same as them, I know this because they post what their children eat everyday. They’ve just posted a lunch for their child from the other day and it hardly had anything on it! It was literally like a couple of small tomatoes, salad leaves and humus and that’s supposed to be one of the main meals that fills a child up? They are quite restricted in their eating and are also passing this onto their child, I’ve noticed that a lot of vegan families on social media are also like this and it just feels quite extreme, especially when the children are too young to understand the choice of lifestyle and why they have to eat a certain way.

AIBU for thinking that your child should have a diet of everything including meat, regardless of your own dietary preferences, until they are at an age where they can choose for themselves?!

I would say it was very unusual to feed your child something forbidden by your religion. Surely most parents do t encipher children to do the wrong thing?

No, it really isn't helpful.

My ds is an enthusiastic carnivore. I eat much less red meat but I'm 60 and don't crave so much. We both eat plenty of veg to balance it out.

Ds's dad's new woman is a veggie and she tried to dictate what DS ate. It didn't work 😁 He bought up the village shop's stash of pepperoni, and then came home.

'Hoummous is quite filling'

Words fail me. Can you imagine how joyless a childhood would be, eating mainly hummus?

Every parent puts their own ideas on to their children, it’s only seen as ‘forcing’ it when it’s something someone else doesn’t agree with.

My parents made me eat meat as a child, even when I didn’t want to. I feel annoyed that they did that and would have liked to have been brought up as vegetarian/vegan.

I’m vegan now and fed my children vegan food. My partner eats some meat, dairy and eggs and he fed our children those things when they were younger.

Our children decided to be vegetarian as they got a bit older and now are vegan as teens/adults.

Name one society that functions solely on a plant based diet. Lacto vegetarianism is common in India but not veganism. (and don’t claim all Jains are vegan as dairy is permitted)

So is it just vegans you have the issue with then? I only eat chicken and Turkey so I am not going to buy cook or serve other meat as I can't stand the smell (same with fish.) I've brought my kids up the same and they are free to have whatever meat they like when they are older and can buy it/ cook it but as it stands none of them want to eat other meat and they are teens now and haven't wanted to try it but it would be fine if they did. Meat eaters force their kids to eat meat my nephew wouldn't eat any meat other than chicken when he was little so my sister use to lie to him and say every meat he has was chicken (beef, pork) to get him to eat it 🤷‍♀️ guess that's ok to force though?

I think this was a slightly silly off the cuff comment at the end of the post. Nobody is seriously suggesting that children should be raised on hummus alone LOL.

@LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway , yes I made the connection between the lambs I saw in the field and the lamb on my plate. I haven’t eaten meat since (56 years).

No she doesn’t because it’s utter bollocks.

She’s right about one thing. There is less obesity in vegan children. However Vegan children also tend to end up shorter, with vitamin deficiencies among a range of other health conditions his poster skipped by

You're wrong, and nobody "flies processed vegan crap" around the world- do you really believe that?! 😆

I can't be arsed to link the standard BBC food carbon footprint calculator here again, but nearly every animal based foodstuff has a higher carbon footprint than nearly every plant based foodstuff (there are a couple of exceptions, which I can't remember).

And I say that as someone who eats eggs and (some) dairy.

Plenty of 5 year olds understand where their food comes from. When we go past a field of cows we call them walking burgers.

No I don't agree we should expect vegetarians to feed meat to children. I am sure when the children are old enough they can try meat away from the home.

I have two children the eldest was vegetarian from age 4 and vegan since 15. The youngest would literally eat raw steak! I am in the middle- try to eat healthy but I always let them make choices (within healthy reasonable in the home options).

Several studies have been reported showing that the growth of vegan children is slower than that of non-vegans (see 6-8). Studies such as these are often cited as evidence that vegan diets are inherently unhealthy. However, when the studies are examined more closely, we find that they are often based on vegans who have very low calorie or very limited diets (only fruit and nuts for example).

https://www.veganlifestylecoach.com/children-and-veganism

Did you read the study I put on the thread earlier? If not I suggest you do.

"The researchers found a link between shorter heights and lower bone mineral content among vegan children, compared to meat-eaters. But they didn’t show vegan diets caused the difference. Nor can they say the differences will last into adulthood."

https://www.unisa.edu.au/unisanews/2021/july/story3#:~:text=They%20were%20more%20likely%20to,higher%20the%20bone%20mineral%20density.

DH and I are both vegetarian and we are raising our children as vegetarian too. All parents make dietary choices for their children. I have recently had blood tests as I'm pregnant and had no deficiencies, I take a daily pregnancy multivit. My 2 year old also recently had blood tests and was found to have insufficient vit D only which we all know is mostly linked to sunlight, so he takes a supplement for that now. My 6yo has also fairly recently had blood tests and had no deficiencies. She takes a chewable multivit each day.

When the children are older they will of course be able to make their own food decisions to a greater degree. I would be disappointed if they chose to eat meat but it wouldn't be a big deal and it would be up to them. My 6yo obviously knows that meat is from animals etc and atm is happy being vegetarian. She has never asked or expressed any desire to eat meat or seafood and queries why other people do so. But of course as she ages she may change her mind and that will be up to her. I've been a vegetarian for around 12 yrs and DH for about 9 so can't imagine us ever going back to eating meat or seafood. If anything I like the idea of moving to a vegan diet but it is a lot more complicated than vegetarian and I just don't have the headspace to maintain a healthy vegan diet at present, or the funds to buy expensive vegan versions of a lot of things we eat regularly.

I would assume this study is fairly irrelevant when compared to a modern vegan diet? Malnutrition caused by poverty is not the same as choosing plant sources of nutrients instead of animal sources.
Vegan diets can provide all necessary nutrients (B12 will need to be supplemented, but this is easy to do), and reducing meat and dairy consumption has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, some cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer's...
I've been vegan for a few years and recently took part in some research regarding health and diet. All my macro and micro nutrient needs are met through my diet and blood results are perfect. Anecdotally I have more energy, a stronger immune system, better digestive health and better skin.
Here are some more modern sources than your one (also watch out for who funds studies, similarly to how fossil fuel companies fund research that plays down climate change, a lot of nutrition studies are funded by fast food, fizzy drink, meat and dairy companies/boards):
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/vegetarian-vegan-diets-lower-risk-heart-disease-cancer-rcna151970
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6153574/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466941/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9738978/
I would say a much bigger risk for children's health is the prevalence of UPFs and a lack of awareness of nutrition in general.

I don't think children should be forced to follow a certain diet but also don't think vegetarian or vegan parents need to be cooking meat for their children as long as they're eating a balanced diet.
My DH was vegetarian for a while and both DDs decided to be vegetarian too, we would mostly eat vegetarian food at home (I eat some meat), but if they decided to have meat when out we were fine with it.
A friend is vegetarian and pretty strict about it, she won't buy meat at all, but also doesn't mind if her DC eat the occasional ham sandwich etc at a party!

Plenty of 5 year olds understand where their food comes from. When we go past a field of cows we call them walking burgers

It's funny isn't it how people are different, because I would call that behaviour psychopathic

They have to be like that about though, don't they

I was vegan for years, but my DH and DC are not. I don’t believe that vegan alternatives are good enough yet for my DC to get everything needed to grow and be nourished at such a critical stage of development, so DC currently pescatarian. One day I hope there will be an affordable vegan diet that suits the 0 - 5 age group and their incredibly high nutritional needs, but I’m not willing to risk deficiencies for DC.
I am now vegetarian and DC is pescatarian which means that 95% of the time we can eat the same meals. I’m able to take algal oil supplements for omegas but he is not at an age yet where that’s affordable as kids algae supplements retail at £18+. Not being vegan also allows me to afford organic milk etc as not having to cater to totally disparate diets, so money definitely plays a part in the decision.

I'm a vegetarian and I don't buy or cook meat. I don't want to and I cook the majority of meals in our house, and I'm not fannying around making multiple dinners for everyone. I won't stop my children having it at school or parties or their friend's houses though, or make them feel bad for that choice, but if it falls to me to shop and cook then I'll buy and cook vegetarian food.

My dh is a meat eater and I am vegetarian ( since 1980 )
When we moved in together he suggested that he wouldn’t eat meat at home and we agreed on a compromise that fish is OK, for dh obviously not me.

When we had our kids we agreed they would be brought up pescatarian. We never have meat products in our house and I’ve never cooked them. Why would I I’m against the slaughter of animals for food. My dh always cooked the fish meals, maybe once a week.

I don’t think, as long as the diet is healthy, there’s any reason a parent should drop their morals and feed their kids food that they don’t agree with. Personally I would feel I wasn’t respecting my children and I was forcing them to eat animals.

Now my kids are in their twenties now
The oldest age 23 has been a vegetarian since age 14
One twin age 20 has been a vegetarian since age 13
One twin has remained a pescatarian.

Sure.

I agree that cost plays a part, particularly with young children who can be notoriously fussy. We definitely eat more of the more expensive UPF 'meat substitutes' because the kids eat more reliably than various beans/pulses, than if it were just down to us two. That being said, I don't find being vegetarian particularly cost prohibitive and I do all my food shop on a budget - household income around £50k and two young children. I don't find it difficult to plan and arrange a vegetarian diet for my kids that meets all their nutritional needs but would if it was a vegan diet, I don't think I could do that competently for them.

Another issue for us is that DC2 won't eat eggs at all other than eggy bread or in quiche. Which is annoying as it's such a good part of a balanced veggie diet and DC1 absolutely loves eggs in every form.