Baby Talk January 2019

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Life & Style Love For Life Veganism: Little ones and alternative diets Going vegan these days isn’t just a passing fad. Many people are looking into veganism to live a life which excludes exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals – be it for food, clothing or any other purpose. Even though it is becoming less of a rarity these days, questions do arise on whether the drastic restrictions associated with a vegan diet is suitable for young children, especially during the critical developing years of toddlerhood till five or six years old. 40 BabyTalk | January 2019
Life & Style Love For Life Concerns on the lack of nutrients There are concerns on the apparent lack of nutrients in a vegan diet which may affect a child’s growth and development. For instance, vegan food can be lacking in vitamin D, calcium, iron and possibly vitamin B12, which are typically derived from the intake of milk and meat in normal diets. A vegan diet also isn't very energy-dense: one would have to eat a lot of it to get enough energy. Toddlers typically don't eat a lot, so getting enough calories into them can be difficult. Some dieticians recommend adding some good vegetable oil to their food. Another downside of a vegan diet is the lack of protein. A child who is fed with meat and fish would easily get all the right amino acids compared to a child who is getting protein from pulses. The problem here is that one type of bean might not provide every amino acid, so there has to be a good balance of pulses which the little one has to consume. In short, a child will get all the essential amino acids by eating some chicken meat, but a child who only eats one type of bean won't. Be fully informed Like any other alternative diet practiced in the world, information and knowledge are the keys to ensure that you’ll be getting all the right nutrients. Needless to say, parents raising their offspring on a vegan diet have to be adequately informed on their child’s nutritional needs and how they will be met, because, when a vegan diet starts to go wrong, or when one starts to lax and nutritional requirements are not met, the child will have to suffer the consequences. The first symptom is usually that the child fails to thrive or grow properly. This will probably be due to the shortage of calories and protein that are required for children to thrive. Rickets might follow, (caused by deficiencies in vitamin D and calcium). Yes, such are the severities of deficiencies in major nutrients in a child’s diet. However, here are the kickers: While we may have mentioned all of the above as the possible downsides of children on a vegan diet, the fact is, countless children all over the world today, who are all on ‘normal’ diets, suffer the above outcomes too, and then some! The availability of fast foods, modern day foodpreparation methods and the over-use of poor quality or overly processed ingredients all add up to bring about dire consequences to children’s health and wellbeing. Now, that’s food for thought, isn’t it? And here’s another one.. Vegan families are more likely to cook at home, and are likely to be very knowledgeable about nutrition because they have had to make a lot of effort to follow the diet through. Most of them follow a whole food diet, and avoid trans-fats and too much salt. It's actually makes it much easier for vegans and their children to meet the requirements of the food pyramid than for other people. Vegan nutrition for babies and children Healthy infants can thrive on well-planned vegan diets. Breast milk is the best food for infants, but if you cannot breastfeed your baby, use properly formulated commercial soya infant formula. Infant formulas are fortified with vitamin D3. They are safe alternatives to breast milk. Note: The vitamin D3 is from lanolin though, a derivative from sheep. BabyTalk | January 2019 41
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