7 year old refusing to eat meat

[Helenmh]

My 7 year old wont eat meat at all. I am quite happy to cut it out of his diet but I have heard people say that children need some meat in their diet. Has anyone got any advice on this. he loves fish and he loves fresh fruit and veg. He also doesnt like butter on his bread or milk to drink. He does like yoghurts though.
helen

helen, does he not even like burgers or sausages?

anyway meat is not vital - it is just an easy way of providing protein and iron. he will get protein from fish - not sure about iron - does he eat eggs at all? (and there is some iron in chocolate but don't tell him that!)

my 8 year old doesn't drink milk or eat butter, but yogurt and dairy ice cream provide calcium; when you say butter do you mean all spreads or actual butter? the various "buttery" spreads provide some essentials.

tesco do a cheap pleasant-tasting kids' multi-vitamin with iron - chewy raspberry flavour - using those takes some of the worry away!

fish, fruit and veg and yogurt sounds like a really good diet, actually!

Hi, don't we eat meat for iron and protein? Well protein can be found in fish and iron can be found in lots of things from spinach, to eggs to dried apricots. My little boy takes Minedex tonic which he loves, it's orange flavour and that has iron in it.

Nuts are good instead of meat. I didnt even eat it as a baby, I used to throw it away.

Helenmh, please don't worry about your seven year old. I became a vegetarian at 13 (18 years ago) much to my parents disapproval and I have an eleven year old and an eight month old and neither have ever eaten meat. Both are extremely healthy and rarely ill! To be honest we eat lots of beans and lentils as they are so versatile but today the chill cabinet in Sainsbury's will provide quorn and soya based products such as the Linda McCartney's range. (Personally I find this stuff far too close to meat but it has been good for friends of my daughter who have been rather difficult to feed as so many children refuse to eat vegetables. The basic principle is the same as any healthy diet, everything in moderation and lots of fruit and veg. Simply substitute the meat with a protein based food. It used to be thought that vit B12 could not be obtained from a purely veggie diet but I think that it has recently been found that it is available in green leafy things. A daily portion of marmite is the easiest way to provide it. I recommend that you go to the Vegetarian Society website, it is excellent and they will send you lots of free info.

Good luck.

The website is @ www.vegsoc.org

My two are almost veggie (they were completely veggie until beginning school) - as Winnie says, Quorn is good - my girls love it in a stir fry with sesame seeds and honey. They also enjoy pasta dishes, lentil soup,etc but to be honest, like many children, would live on chips and burgers (veggie ones) if allowed! As others have said, with fish, fruit, vege and yoghurt she's well on the way to a healthy diet.

Forgot to say in response to your concern about iron intake; eat green leafy vegetables this will provide all the iron for any ones needs!

Thanks for all your advice. No he doesnt like bugers, sausages etc. We had some problems on holiday in florida as all the kids meals rarely had a fish option. we usually got him a fish starter
helen

No problem! Both my children (6 and 2 years) have been brought up to not eat meat. They love fish (esp. fish-in-sauces; tuna and salmon); quorn sausages; quorn nuggets; pasta; dried fruit; lentil bakes and I often sprinkle ground nuts into bakes for extra protein. I must admit when I told health professionals that I intended not to give them meat I met the usual prejudices i.e. they will become anaemic; won't develop properly; lack energy etc. None of these have happened and I struggle to keep up with them and their massive energy supply!!

Good luck.

Winnie, I also have an 8 month veggie baby. Do you know how old they have to be before you can give them quorn? Was your 11 yr old veggie from birth also? If so, did they ever want meat when they were older?

Med, I am afraid as yet my baby has not had quorn and although I've checked my very authorative Rose Elliots Mother, Baby and Toddler Book (sadly out of print) soya protein isn't even mentioned. I imagine quorn is probably too new to be mentioned there.

I am very laid back about weaning and from 6 months+ my baby has more or less been eating what we eat (- sugar and salt). The Vegetarian Society recommends tofu from 6-8 months and does point out that from 8 months breastmilk (or formula) is not providing enough protein. I would give a small amount and simply progress over the coming months by twelve months the only thing I'd not give a baby are pieces of nut (allowing for family history re. allergies). One thing I would say is that I think quorn has egg in it and this should be taken into account regarding egg allergies.

With regards to my eleven year old she has never wanted to eat meat. Frankly she is revolted by the idea of eating meat.

Can I ask you how your Health Visitor is regarding vegetarianism? I was astonished that in ten years nothing had changed and I was being told that my baby needed meat. This is simply not true. I know of an incredibly fit and healthy woman in her 70's who is a life long vegetarian and she didn't have such things as Quorn as a stand by until very recently!

Winnie, that's awful that you are being told your baby needs meat! I think in today's society there is that much going against meat, ie the preparation, packaging, health scares that to be advised to give your child meat is so wrong, especially as there are so many alternatives now. I don't avoid it as much now but certainly when my baby was on jars and mushy food I didn't go near it, (especially in jars you don't know where it came from). In fact I would say that my little girl was pretty much veggie for her first year of life, that said I never mentioned this to my health visitor so I wonder if I'd have had the same reaction, hmmm..? I think following a vegetarian diet can be a very wise move in today's world, and I'm sure your children are living proof of that winnie.

Winnie thanks for your advice. I haven't told the HV that he's veggie. It's horrible how people manage to make you feel guilty about it, but I think I'm doing the right thing!

I wonder if anyone can help me? I have a recipe book for babies, in which there's a recipe called 'Fruity Fool' made of Greek Yogurt, Strawberries & Custard, and it says it's suitable for home freezing. But on the Greek Yogurt pot it says 'Do not freeze', I was hoping someone might know.