Here’s What A Vegan Diet Really Does To Kids

You won’t have enough protein without meat! You won’t have enough energy without dairy! You won’t have enough nutrients without supplements! If you’re vegan – or thinking of becoming one – you’ve probably heard all these arguments against the diet before. But how many of them are actually true? As more and more adults bring their kids up vegan, it’s a question worth seriously considering. So can veganism be a healthy lifestyle for kids? Or are our children being harmed instead of helped?

Animal-free food

The first thing to think about is why a child may want to become vegan. Are they concerned about the environment? Do they want to eat more fruit and veg? Or do they feel like protecting animals? Because the reasons behind veganism can have an impact on someone’s health. And, after all, there is no one vegan diet.

Vegan 101

There are any number of vegan lifestyles out there. While all veganism essentially involves a plant-based diet, your child could choose to eat mostly whole food. We’re talking veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. But that’s far from the only option – and each could have an effect on a child’s health.

Raw truth

For example, some vegans will bypass raw foods in favor of starchy stuff such as cooked rice or potatoes. Other vegans will do “raw till 4:00 p.m.” And some people will just go with the meat and dairy alternatives you see on supermarket shelves. It’s whatever works for the individual – and their health.

Alternative approach

Your kid could also eat no meat without being a vegan. Some vegetarians will eat eggs and dairy but not meat, poultry, or fish. Others will eat seafood. And flexitarians will eat some animal foods but not consume as much red meat. But a card-carrying vegan will only eat plant-based foods – and that can have serious health consequences.

Plant life

The idea is that vegans live on all sorts of veggies, fruits, and herbs. This means eating beans and pulses, and foodstuffs made from them, such as tofu or tempeh. Munching down on whole grains, seeds, and nuts is allowed as well. But how your child goes about their vegan diet makes all the difference to their wellbeing.

Can’t cook, won’t cook

One strong distinction between vegans is those who cook food and those who only eat it raw. But is a raw-food diet good for you and your kid? Well, it’s not high in calories and provides plenty of nutrients. But it lacks lots of the stuff you really need. This could be of serious concern to your child.

Not for kids?

The low-calorie nature of raw foods can be appealing, of course. But is this really good for kids? There are reasons to think not. Counting calories could force a child to put too much focus on their food, for one thing. And if they’re only looking at calories, they may not pay enough attention to the nutrients in what they eat.

Diet danger

Perhaps worst of all, kids who try any kind of restrictive diet can end up having bad habits in later life. This could include developing harmful eating disorders. Researchers have found this can be true for those who are told to keep away from “bad” food, too. Forbidden fruits do, after all, taste sweeter. But what about starting kids even younger?

Vegan babies

Can babies go vegan? Well, many are naturally vegan anyway. Breastmilk doesn’t count as an animal product! But if you can’t or don’t want to breastfeed, your baby will need to eat formula. That is usually made from cow’s milk, sometimes with added fish oil. And even soy-based formulas aren’t vegan.

Soy sorry

Soy formula isn’t usually recommended for babies younger than six months anyway. That’s because soy has lots of phytoestrogens in it. This can affect the development of little ones’ reproductive systems. So consulting a doctor is a must when it comes to soy formula and your baby’s health. But we might see plant-based formulas on the market soon.

Reversing the formula

In Queensland, Australia, one inventor has come up with what he says is the “first infant formula that’s certified organic and plant-based.” It became available in June 2021 and is largely made from rice. Coconut oil provides the fat, and Sprout Organic has stuck in loads of plant-based vitamins as well. But is it healthy for babies?

Non-dairy

Sprout Organic co-founder Selasi Berdie thinks so. “Where we’ve tried to be a bit different is providing a plant-based solution for parents who have a kid who has a dairy intolerance, but is also just looking for an alternative to dairy,” Berdie told Australian TV station Seven. For now, though, vegan formulas are not for sale in American stores. That brings us back to the older kids.

Eating well

Physician Dr. Jackie Busse is sure that there are pros to kids living vegan. She told The Beet in 2020 that she’d seen patients with diabetes able to quit their meds thanks to their giving up meat. She also claimed that the diet helped lower patients’ blood pressures and clear up a host of other problems. So far, so good.

More minerals

Busse said research has shown that vegan kids eat more minerals and vitamins than those who eat meat, too. Vegan children also get enough calories and protein from their plant-based food. They don’t take in as much cholesterol or saturated fat, either. And these aren’t the only benefits to children’s health that Busse talked about.

Shift the weight

A vegan diet can be beneficial in controlling blood sugar levels and cutting the risk of diabetes. The diet may even help improve the health of people’s hearts – but the science is not conclusive here. Adults could use it to lose weight as well. And the upsides of the diet keep coming.

The big C

Other benefits to health can include slightly cutting the risk of developing cancer. Veganism might also help reduce the symptoms of arthritis and Alzheimer’s – although these are rarely issues for children. So yes, there are pluses. But you definitely can’t just put your kids on a diet of veggies and seeds and expect no more health worries.

Bad news

What are the concerns? It’s certainly possible the diet could cause kids to be deficient in nutrients such as vitamin D, iron, omega-3 fatty acids – and even more besides. So parents need to take a close look at the things their kids may not get enough of on a vegan diet. Take iron, for example.

Pumping iron

You need iron to make red blood cells – and going short can cause issues. This could include tiredness, weakness, and mental problems such as poor concentration. But Dr. Busse told The Beet that iron deficiency is no more likely for vegan kids than for any other. But parents will need to make sure their kids get enough iron-rich grub.

Eat green

How do you do this? Beans, lentils, leafy veg, wholemeal bread, and nuts are all good choices. Fortified milks and breakfast cereals are great as well. And you can boost a child’s iron intake by combining these with a source of vitamin C – say, an orange. But having an iron deficiency is only one concern with a vegan diet.

Vitamin sunshine

Another nutrient that can be found lacking in vegan diets is vitamin D. You need this stuff to absorb calcium. That’s a vital mineral for healthy bones and teeth – and therefore essential for children. Mind you, the best way to boost your vitamin D levels is to get outside. And there’s an important reason why kids should do this.

Knock knees

If you don’t get enough vitamin D, you can have insufficient minerals in your bones. For children, this could result in rickets. That is a condition in which kids can develop knock knees or bowed legs. And as you can’t get much vitamin D in vegan diets, you have to take extra steps to guard your kids’ health.

Fortified foods

Look out for fortified foods – particularly vitamin-boosted plant milks and cereals. Supplements could be the way to go, too. The U.K. health department actually suggests that all kids in their early years should be taking vitamin supplements – regardless of their diet. And that brings us to the problems with calcium.

Calcium crunch

Calcium is another crucial mineral, as we’ve heard. It helps keep your bones strong and has important functions in other parts of the body. And because you gain about nine-tenths of your bone mass in your first 16 years, kids really need to get enough calcium. If their calcium levels get low, it can have serious consequences.

Thin bones

When calcium in the body is low, bones release the mineral into the bloodstream to help out elsewhere. So if you are consistently short of calcium, your bones won’t be able to keep enough of it for themselves. Your bones will then become more thin and porous – and more likely to fracture. This could be bad news for vegans.

Dairy dilemma

Why? Because dairy is a great source of calcium. But – don’t worry – there are alternates. You can try fortified plant-based milks and cereals as well as soy yogurt. Some spreads are good, too, as are almonds and leafy greens. It’s all in the planning! And the same goes for omega-3 fatty acids.

Fatty acids

They don’t sound appealing, but omega-3 fatty acids are essential to wellbeing. The three that we particularly need help to keep our brains, hearts, and eyes working well. Pretty essential, right? Unfortunately, though, vegan diets are only really a source of one fatty acid. So how will your kids get the other two essential components?

Algae production

These other two fatty acids are usually derived from fish – which is obviously a no-go for vegans. Yet the fatty acids are actually made by microalgae that the fish eat. Why is this helpful? Because you can get supplements made directly from this algae. But there is another essential nutrient missing from vegan diets.

Vitamin B12

If you’ve researched veganism, you’ve probably heard about vitamin B12. You cannot make red blood cells without this vitamin – but it’s made by bacteria that live in animal intestines. This makes animal products the best source of it. But we’re here to say that while meat may be its best source of vitamin B12, it’s not the only one.

Cereal source

You can get vitamin B12 from fortified plant milk and some soy products. You can also find it in boosted breakfast cereals and sometimes in yeast extracts. To make sure your child has enough, just give them a mixture of these items – or have them take supplements. This is really important because a B12 deficiency can be very detrimental to your little one.

Low energy

In the United States, about 6 percent of the population has a deficiency of vitamin B12. The symptoms can include fatigue, low energy, weak muscles, and memory issues. And that’s not all. If you’re low in vitamin B12 for long enough, you could damage nerves for good or suffer depression or coordination disorders. That is not good for your child.

Keep your nerve

What do you need to look out for? If your child complains of tingly or numb hands or feet – or they can’t keep their balance – they might have low stores of vitamin B12. This can be a sign of pernicious anemia, which can be extremely dangerous or even fatal. But a deficiency of vitamin B12 can be treated.

Shots fired

If your child has the condition, they might need tablets or injections of the substance hydroxocobalamin. These should fix the vitamin B12 deficiency and then supplements can keep it from recurring. But for vegans, a vitamin B12 supplement is the best way to avoid deficiency in the first place. So… Can children be healthy on a vegan diet?

Diet study

After all, the deficiencies we’ve discussed aren’t necessarily always an outcome of a vegan lifestyle. But what is the scientific conclusion? A 2021 study looked at this question with a two-year study of Polish children between the ages of five and ten. And the findings will certainly give you something to think about.

Mixed results

The vegan kids did have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. They had 25 percent less of the unhealthy kind of cholesterol. But the news wasn’t all good for the plant-based foodies. The study found that vegans were at greater risk of having nutritional deficiencies. But that wasn’t all that was missing for the vegan kids.

Short stuff

Interestingly, the vegan children studied had 5 percent fewer bone minerals and were more than an inch shorter on average than the meat-eaters. That’s worrying because it means the vegans were failing to add bone density at a crucial stage of their development. There was also a difference between the vegan and vegetarian subjects.

Veggie results

In the study, vegetarian kids weren’t quite as deficient in nutrients as vegans. On the other hand, they didn’t have as healthy a cardiovascular risk profile. The study’s authors said that this was down to their eating higher amounts of processed foods. But what was the research’s ultimate conclusion?

Packed lunch

The authors said that parents need to ensure their kids get plenty of protein from nuts, lentils, and beans, along with calcium from fortified plant milks. Dr. Busse also told The Beet that kids needed plenty of food that was rich in nutrients. She said, “It’s important to make every bite count.”

Fatten up

Infants require a lot more fat than adults do, Busse said. So parents need to make sure meals include healthy fats such as those from olive oil, nuts, and avocado. Vegan kids should also be eating specially chosen sources of omega-3 fatty acids daily – or take supplements. But Busse’s conclusion was that this is true for any child.

Eat healthy

If a kid eats a junk-food diet, it doesn’t matter at all if it’s vegan or meat-based. A vegan junk-food diet is still a junk-food diet! So the best way to keep a kid healthy, whether they are vegan or not, is to focus on whole foods that aren’t processed.