Scientific Controversy

April 27, 2020

once upon a time a vegan and healthy baby…

     For many years, we have heard of vegan or vegetarian diets, which consist primarily of consuming plant-based foods. The difference between veganism and vegetarianism is its flexibility, while vegetarianism is a little more flexible, veganism is much stricter and more rigorous. A vegan diet limits to consuming only foods that don’t have any type of link with animal products or its derivatives. It has been scientifically shown that vegan diets lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases in adults according to an study published by the Journal of the American Heart Association. Therefore these plant based diets come to be considered much healthier than a diet that mainly consists of animal products. However there have been controversial ideas on whether a vegan diet could affect and generate health issues in kids or babies that are raised in a vegan based diet. 

  These controversial ideas have created uncertainty for parents who once thought about raising their children on a plant-based diet. For example, a famous couple of parents who have sparked more recognition to this controversy are the royal family, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. When rumors sprang up in 2019 that they would raise their baby vegan, these rumors again unleashed the question of whether this would be safe for the royal baby and babies in general. Much of this uncertainty is due in large part to news of malnutrition cases related to veganism in infants. 

       As mentioned in the article “Malnutrition Case Stirs Debate About Vegan Diets for Babies”. As the same article says, the debate has spread thanks to these cases where the malnutrition of a child is blamed because their parents raise them on a plant-based diet. This raises doubts and concerns for parents who once came to think of this idea of ​​raising their children in this way. However, in many of these cases it has been concluded that it was not due to the vegan diet of the babies, instead it was due to the negligence of the parents. The article also stated that ““Many kids do thrive on vegan diets,” Ms. Mangels said, adding that parents who were considering raising their children that way should work with health care providers to come up with a plan.” (Jacey Fortin 2019). Articles like this help and generate a little more understanding on this topic. Which may be of utmost importance to parents who are vegan, who are transitioning to veganism, or even to future parents. Personally I follow a strict diet based on plants and I feel that it would help me to have more knowledge about the subject in order to make the decision in the distant future on whether my future kids should grow up following a diet similar to mine. 

    According to a 2019 Harris Poll, on behalf of The Vegetarian Resource Group, Estimating about 254 million adults in the U.S, 46% sometimes or always eating vegetarian, including vegan, would be an estimated 116.8 million adults 18 and older in the United States who opt to follow this type of diet. As these diets become more and more common in our society, and taking into consideration the modern events that call for these diets, many parents who make the decision to follow this diet usually find themselves in a conflict over whether it is appropriate to raise their children strictly following the norms of veganism. Also by the factors and the emerging awareness about climate change, and the idea that meat consumption is a big cause of climate change, ethical concerns, let’s consider that many children at young ages could also be deciding to become vegetarians on their own. In April 2014 a national online survey also conducted by Harris Poll, asked over 1,200 U.S youth ages 8-18 about their eating behaviors. The results estimated that there may be about half a million vegan 8-18 years olds. However, taking into account that this survey was carried out 6 years ago and that we can clearly observe the way in which times are changing. for example, the idea of ​​veganism is being presented and explained more to children, through books, educational resources, child media activists and also the increase of modern parents who rigorously follow a plant-based diet. 

     Although vegan diets are scientifically beneficial in many different aspects, they can also be prejudicial in others, causing health problems that can often go unnoticed. Critics may maintain that having a vegan diet generates the risk of malnutrition. 

According to a study published in The International Childbirth Education Association by the authors Steven Tyree, Bethany R. Baker and Deborah 

Weatherspoon in July 2012 “The primary dietary concerns with veganism in general are low intakes of vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, and iodine. Vegans run the risk of both deficiency or overexposure of iodine depending on their intake of seaweed supplements.” ( Tyree, Baker and Weatherspoon 2012). This could be a potential issue for kids growing up or even for babies during pregnancy. There have been many cases where babies have been found with effects of malnutrition and some cases claim to be caused by vegan diets. Vitamin B12 one of the principal concerns for vegan diets can be found mostly in animal products such as meat, fishes, milk, eggs, etc.                         

  According to the Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets Vitamin b12  deficiency can cause many health problems which include unusual fatigue, tingling in the fingers or toes, poor cognition, poor digestion, and failure to thrive in small children.  According to USNEWS in 2010 “an 11-month-old French baby on a vegan diet died after suffering complications from vitamin deficiencies; his parents were sentenced to five years in jail.” (USNEWS 2011). As this case, there have been many cases where babies on vegan diets have been diagnosed with malnutrition or even starvation that have been accounted to even caused their deaths. 

      Even though there are cases where malnutrition and vitamin deficiency is accounted for in vegan diets, Experts may still agree to say it is possible for infants and children to grow up healthy and strong on a plant-based diet. According to an article in the New York Times “The key is to make sure it’s well planned out and you’re meeting all of your child’s nutritional needs,” said Vandana Sheth, a registered dietitian nutritionist and a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.”  By this we can arrive at the idea that there are ways to prevent negative outcomes from raising children to a vegan diet. There are many articles and information about how to well plan a complete and ideal vegan diet in order to correspondingly prevent risk of health problems. 

   From my point of view and personal experience now corroborated by experts, I can testify that it is possible to develop in a healthy way while following a plant-based diet. Since I was little I saw from another perspective the cruelty to animals and I remember hating to eat anything related to animals, it used to make me really sad. I also remember that it was very frustrating that my parents did not allow me to follow a vegan diet, because my parents were afraid of these negative results that can derive from these diets. However, now I am a vegetarian and I say vegetarian just because I still eat cheese once in a while,, and so far thanks to planning and intelligent monitoring, my diet has not resulted in any health problem, on the contrary, my health has improved quite.  In summary, vegan diets can be safe for children growing up as long as parents and guardians are well informed about the key nutrients required for growth and development. Furthermore, parents of vegan children must be extra cautious with their children, and look for ways to supplement the vitamins they require at certain ages and in specific amounts, so that it is easy and safe for their children to grow up, healthy, strong and be vegan.

References: 

  1. Kim, H., Caulfield, L. E., Garcia‐Larsen, V., Garcia‐Larsen, V., Steffen, L. M., Coresh, J., … Center for Prevention. (2019, August 7). Plant‐Based Diets Are Associated With a Lower Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease, Cardiovascular Disease Mortality, and All‐Cause Mortality in a General Population of Middle‐Aged Adults. Retrieved from https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.119.012865
  2. Tyree, Steven, et al. “On veganism and pregnancy.” International Journal of Childbirth Education, vol. 27, no. 3, 2012, p. 43+. Gale Academic OneFile, https://link-gale-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/apps/doc/A302298504/AONE?u=cuny_ccny&sid=AONE&xid=85284d25. Accessed 14 Apr. 2020.
  3. Melina, V., Craig, W., & Levin, S. (2016). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 116(12), 1970–1980. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025
  4. Is Veganism Appropriate for Kids? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2012/05/03/is-veganism-appropriate-for-kids
  5. Davey, M., MS, M. H., MS, N. M., & Ellis, S. (n.d.). Raising Vegetarian Children. Retrieved from https://vegetariannutrition.net/vegetarian-kids/?referringSource=articleShare
  6. Fortin, J. (2019, August 24). Malnutrition Case Stirs Debate About Vegan Diets for Babies. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/24/health/vegan-parents-malnourished-baby.html?referringSource=articleShare

7. “Malnutrition Case Stirs Debate About Vegan Diets for Babies.” Google, Google, 24 Aug. 2019, www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/08/24/health/vegan-parents-malnourished-baby.amp.html.