Contents:
- Medical Video: Children's Health Minute: Vegetarian Diets
- Is the vegan diet in children healthy?
- What are the benefits of the vegan diet in children?
- Then what are the risks that can occur if the child applies a vegan diet?
- What if I still want to apply the vegan diet to my child?
Medical Video: Children's Health Minute: Vegetarian Diets
During this time, the vegan diet has been mentioned as a healthy diet because the benefits for health have been proven in several studies. During this time the diet is mostly carried out by adults. Then what about children, can a vegan diet for children be done? What are the benefits and risks of applying this diet to children?
Is the vegan diet in children healthy?
All children need food with high nutritional content and quality so that their growth and development. Therefore, children need to eat a variety of foods to meet all their nutritional needs.
For those of you who are adopting a vegan diet, maybe you want this diet to be applied to all family members, including children, because of its health benefits. Indeed, there have been many studies that state that a vegan diet can prevent the body from developing degenerative diseases and facilitate digestion.
However, if this is applied to your child, then your child's development and growth may be disrupted. Because, a vegan diet means limiting or even avoiding animal foods that contain fat and protein. This makes your child's food intake limited.
What are the benefits of the vegan diet in children?
Some studies suggest that the vegan diet applied to children can reduce the risk of degenerative diseases in children later on. This diet can also prevent obesity in children which can have a negative impact on children as adults.
Then what are the risks that can occur if the child applies a vegan diet?
A study conducted by experts from the Canadian Pediatric Society tried to apply a vegan diet to school-age children. Then, from the study it was found that children who adopted the diet tended to experience a lack of some nutrients such as:
- Protein
- Fat
- Iron
- Calcium
- Zink
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin A
Protein and fat deficiency clearly occurs in children due to animal foods which are the main source of this nutrient is limited. Meanwhile, even though children eat vegetables and fruits as the main source of vitamins and minerals, they tend to experience a lack of vitamins and minerals. This is because some types of vitamins and minerals in animal foods are more easily absorbed by digestion.
In addition, by applying a vegan diet, children's fiber intake increases to 3 times that which should be recommended. This condition can make your child at risk of lack of calories.
What if I still want to apply the vegan diet to my child?
If you still want to apply the usual dietary pattern There is applied to your child, then you must ensure that the child is eating enough food sources of vegetable protein as a substitute for animal protein that is not eaten.
You can also rely on supplements to give to children to avoid malnutrition. But of course, supplements given to children in the long term have their own health risks.
In addition, before you make the child go on a diet, you better consult and discuss it first with a child nutritionist. Because, if this diet is carried out on children without proper meal planning, children are at high risk of experiencing various health problems due to malnutrition. The reason is, the more you limit your child's food, the greater the child's risk of experiencing nutrient deficiencies - whatever it is.
