Is a vegan diet ok for children aged 5+

[wantTobeVegan]

I decided to become Vegan 2 weeks ago, dh agreed with the reasons and joined me. Now we want to transition the dc (youngest is 5).

They already drink soya not cows milk . Is it just B12 we need to supplement with ?

Is there anything else we need to check as I know for babies and toddlers it can be tricky but for 5+ is it quite straightforward?

Do you know how much protein your DC should be having and what you will be making them to eat to provide all the nutrients they will need ?

Vegan cheese for example is rubbish with no protein. Too many of the processed proteins like Quorn or soya sausages might be good for protein but have too many additives including salt sugar and poor quality fats.

So your dc will need to like beans, lentils, organic tofu and lots of vegetables etc, and you will need to prepare them well enough so they are appetising.

edited for typo

DD is coeliac and it’s shit having to take packed lunches to parties and she couldn’t go for tea at friends houses. Even as a teen she has to exclude herself from certain things because she can’t eat certain places. She can’t join in with shared food at college, baking fundraisers.
I have friends who have been vegan for over 20 years and bringing up children vegetarian to give them some choice/flexibility.

If you go ahead make sure DC get enough protein, needed for growth.

What is your plan if any of the children hate the new restrictions and don’t want to be vegan?

it is possible to keep kids healthy on a vegan diet, but it’s not easy and will be quite labour intensive. My main concern would be that the children shouldn’t be coerced or emotionally blackmailed into toeing the line. Veganism, whatever one’s personal convictions, is a relatively extreme belief-based lifestyle and I would think poorly of a parent who forced it on a child who had never expressed a desire for it.

to be hair though they might not have had the perfect omnivore diet. My DD has lived off nuggets and potato waffles for about a month now. I’m not prioritising her protein targets

We would prefer to avoid things like vegan cheese and quorn as like you say they are highly processed. I will have to look up their protein needs as I suspect it will vary due to age/weight ?

The zeal of the newly converted rarely lasts

I’m 100% sure I’m not going to change back. It’s not just a fad it’s a moral issue to us.

It's a moral issue to you, not to your children who have had years of one diet and now you're imposing another on them without even discussing it.

Often not actually in stock as they make so few.

Veganism is a lifestyle choice. It’s a decision made on ethics and the importance and strength of the belief is what makes it stick.

Your children aren’t cognitively developed enough to have such conviction, so be prepared for hiccups to occur and whether you will let them make their own choices when that happens.

nutrition wise, as pp said research the supplements and it likely won’t harm them. But Im not clear what benefit you want to give them and whether this is the best way to do it.

I have 2 vegan adult DCs and they have vegan friends/partners. They all struggle to keep it up to some extent, and have been vegan for 5+ years. They agree they couldn't have done it as school kids. Also, their own dcs will be given some choice.
Having catered for them on and off for years, it's hard. I wish they ate eggs, free range, organic of course, but quick protein. There are calf-at-foot dairies around the country where you can buy ethical cheese (at a premium, but they do exist). I think without at least a long vegetarian switch over period, it will be hard and frustrating for all of you.
When they reach secondary school they will be much more able to make their own choices, and you will have to put up with that.

Yes, I take your point. But re:
Veganism is a relatively extreme belief-based lifestyle and I would think poorly of a parent who forced it on a child who had never expressed a desire for it.

How many children are allowed to know they are eating a slaughtered animal, or even if vegetarian, eating diary food that causes the slaughtering of male calves; - or eat eggs when male chicks are killed in a blender machine- and asked whether this is what they desire? They are certainly not asked.

They are being forced to dip their hands into blood by default without ever being told they are.

So what you say is no answer at all.

Having said that I think it is difficult and time consuming to have a healthy vegan diet, and very difficult indeed when out.

Agree. It’s going to potentially create eating disorders but causing restrictions. Wait till they are older

Yes! It's a very healthy diet for children.

Mine are now grown up, but have always been vegan and very strong and robust!

2 weeks is a very short amount of time to decide this could you do one meat free meat a week and build up to only a couple of meat meals a week and make a decision then? If it’s about animal welfare could you find yourself a better butcher? We do pay a lot more but we go to a butcher which only sells their own animals which is in the middle of their 1000 acre farm. It’s a weekly family activity to get our meat and we see all the animals and how well they are treated. Some may not like it but our son on our weekly trips literally pats the cows etc he will one day eat. He understands the process the butcher is great with him, the butcher takes him into the fridge to chose which animal he would like for his roast. We have also grown our own chickens, I would much prefer to know the animals I have had had a good life and most importantly the kindest death possible. We strongly believe in knowing where your meat comes from and our child will choose veggie options themselves over cheap meat.

Making your child vegan will separate them from their friends you may not realise it but there will be some parents who won’t invite them for play dates due to the hassle of feeding them. Parties will be miserable.

Personally I wouldn’t. I’ve been vegetarian for 20 years and I give my similar aged child meat. I don’t want to restrict their diet at all, while they are so young and growing. They can make their own mind on it when they are older.
I do provide mostly vegetarian meals at home though however most of their meals outside of home include meat which I’m fine with. I decided early on that their health and a varied diet is more important than my moral reasons for being vegetarian.

if it's a moral issue you mention soy & avocados. Have you read how growing these crops are destroying eco systems

Also seitan is UPF, not good for children,

I'm a vegetarian

I agree with this.

I would personally opt for vegetarian for kids for a while at first . Its a big change.
One of my siblings and wife did it for a year kids included. It was very difficult with young children and they lost weight and caught every bug.
My sibling had no energy and became very anaemic. They swapped back to vegetarian and the kids can have whatever they want now.
We have 2 children who are vegetarian by choice. A choice they came to themselves as teens. Which I think worked better as not forced .

Why not be vegan with them at home but let them chose what to eat outside the home so they could have meat at school etc? Then you don't have to cook animal products but are not imposing your extreme beliefs on them all the time.

I personally would come to a compromise. Perhaps vegetarian and only buying organic milk, cheese and eggs. Or eating vegan meals at home but being more relaxed about what they eat at school or out of the house.

I don't think it's necessary to slap a restrictive label on your children's diets.

You can't know.
I have no issue with veganism but settle into it first, before disrupting your children's diet.

Don’t expect to get much support on here for veganism for children.

DD was 2 when I went vegan, and as the person who did the majority of cooking and ate with her, she became vegan by default. She was extremely healthy, never had any worries from the doctors or health visitors. You never hear about protein deficiencies, but you do hear about people never having enough fibre.

It is harder to get them hitting all their nutritional needs, of course, and that will depend on what your children are happy to eat. Beans every day, hummus with lunch, flax seeds in smoothies, yoghurt or cereal.. plenty of whole foods and I’d imagine your children will grow up very healthy. If they’re happy to do it!

@wantTobeVegan are you checking everything you use/own? So making sure your household electronics are vegan and nothing you use or wear has any animal derivative? So your mobile, any make up, shoes, clothes etc?

DD was 2 when I went vegan, and as the person who did the majority of cooking and ate with her, she became vegan by default.

Changing the diet of a two year old who probably doesn't even remember a time she wasn't a vegan is very different to changing the diet of children who are much older. The OPs youngest is 5 and unilaterally deciding they can now no longer eat a significant amount of the food they could two weeks ago for no reason is not a reasonable thing to do.