A vegetarian child?!
A vegetarian child?
My partners child from a previous marriage has been brought up vegetarian. Although his mother states he has a sufficient diet to compensate I think its wrong. He always seems to be ill with a cold and I think its much fairer to allow him to make his own decisions when he is older, what do you think?
Answers:
as a nutritionist, i can only hope the childs mother knows how to feed the child with adequate protein to compensate her growing needs. veg diets can be wonderful for adults, but people need to be aware that all essential nutritients are met, especially with a growing child.she should check with a dietcian in the area to help guide her. a dietician can personalize the diet suitable for her age
Check out this website it has very good info about vegetarian kids, go to the section about kid's diet.
www.milk.co.uk
Good luck
Give it a rest...how many times have I heard this one...veggies live a happy and more healthy lifestyle than you most probabaly.....
Im sorry to say that it doesnt matter what you think, its up to her, shes the mum.
My brothers son is being brought up in the same way and although I dont agree with it, its nothing to do with me. She doesnt agree with my way of feeding kids, but again its nothing to do with her.
i think he shouuld be alble to make his own descisions. the best way for him to be a vegitarian as a kid is to make sure he gets lots of proteins. u can do this by suppliments or just by throwing a little Tofu in with every meal. No worries, u cant taste it! Beans are a great source for protein too. Im a teen and am vegitarian and i am perfectly fine since my parents make sure that i always have some sort of proteiny food. if this kid does not want to be a vegitarian then i dont think he should be but if he is then he definitly needs to be eating the right amount in all the catagories of the food pyramid. you can always find protein in other places then meat. also, his being sick could be from an immune defect type thing, maybe not even diognosed. My friend has one of these and she is out of school at least 1nce a week due to her being horribley sick! shes not a vegitarian tho (well.. she is now but she wasnt when the sicknesses started). She has had these sicknesses since she was really little so she learns to just deal with them and then shell be better the next day (or sometimes two days) later. well, i hope alll this helped a little bit. <3
I'm not a vegetarian, but I can respect a Mother who brings up her child the way she beleives is right. The child can choose to eat meat later when he is older and can make his own choices. The best time to start teaching good eating habits is in early childhood. Research shows that diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol, which increase the risk of heart disease, begin in childhood.
Children raised on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes grow up to be slimmer and healthier and even live longer than their meat-eating friends.
We are omnivores. We are meant to eat meat and plants. You need both to be healthy. Look at the difference between people from India, and people from Canada, for example. How many people from India are there currently (or historically) in the NHL or NFL? If you want to reach your full height and muscle mass potential, you need meat too!
Children need massive amounts of protien to build strong muscles and for growth. It is possible to be a healthy vegan, but one would have to suppliment massive amounts of protien and other essential vitamins that are usually found in animal products. Also, you didn't state whether or not the child eats eggs or milk. If not, there will be serious health concerns. Also, you didn't state the age of the child.
Personally, I don't think it is fair to burden the child with the preferences of the parents, but we do it all the time, don't we. However, you are right, a lifestyle choice such as vegetarianism is a personal thing and is better left to the individual when they are old enough to choose intellegently.
poor kid. the choices that parents make today will screw up a kid tomorrow. this will be a vicious cycle. tsk tsk
All you can do is respect the Mothers decision and ensure he has the right goodness when eating at your home in line with his mothers wishes which requires some research and this section someone will give you the best web site to meet both his growing needs while respecting his mothers diet beliefs
Good luck
Ha I am the the soon to be X wife raising the kiddies vegetarian!!!
I think you should not interfere with how she is raising her child.
I can only speak from personal experience. My mom raised me and my brother as vegetarians and she was constantly hearing from people that our diet would stunt our growth. My mom is 5'4", I'm 5'10" and my brother is even taller. I was also rarely sick as a child, only the occasional yearly cold..
As long it's a healthy diet (and if the child is getting plenty of beans and variety, protein is rarely the problem many omnivores say it is), they should be just fine.
Being a vegetarian does not mean you have a weak immune system. You did say a child, didn't you? Children get sick from being around other kids that are sick, and when they don't get enough antioxidants to strengthen their immune systems.
I agree about allowing them to make their own decisions, which is what I do with my children. They were basically vegetarians for the first year or two of their lives but after that I allowed them to choose to eat meat,poultry and fish if they desired. I wouldn't force them to be a vegetarian just because I am.
That is a touchy situation b/c he is not your child and it is your mate's and his ex-wife's right to make that kind of decision.
I'm a vegetarian ( for 17 yrs) and I rarely ever get sick.
I'm also into alternative medicine and vitamin supplements.
You only think it's wrong b/c you don't have enough knowledge on vegetarianism. Just because you aren't educated enough on something doesn't make it wrong.
Forcing a child to be a vegetarian is cruel, they should be allowed to make their own decisions. Many vegetarians and vegans are sickly because they don't get enough protein in your diet. Look no farther than the pair of vegan parents who starved their child to death, I say if the kid is unhealthy enough call CPS and have them investigate the neglectful parent who is starving her child.
I think a growing child needs the nutrients that only meats provide. Before I'd start slipping the kid some beef, I'd want to know his age and his opinions on the matter, though.
No no no no!!!!! sorry but you are so wrong! My best friend was brought up VEGAN! and he's the healthiest person I know. I turned veggie last year and have barely been ill since, I decided to turn vegan after learning that milk is not good for you at all, and my breathing is so much better already, honestly! and i just don't like eggs anyway so fair enough. Trust me, read "Slim 4 life" by Jason Vale! I'm not kidding, it makes meat seem a lot less important there and t all makes perfect sense, and no it's not a veggie book, just read it to understand. Trust me, you're step son or whatever is fine, if he's ill, it's not cos he's veggie
I'm 13 and vegetarian i feel soooooo much better now than when i used to eat meat if i can live without eating Innocent creatures(which i can)i will
its good that hes been brought up a veggie i wish i had been.
leave him as he is! when i eat meat i got colds all the time now im fine
leave him be
Don't worry the child is healthy. I think you may be bothered because you don't agree with a vegetarian lifestyle. And yes in time when he is older he can chose what he wants to eat but I bet he'll stick to it.
Well, I think he should have a choice, he can become a vegetarian or he could not. He should have the same chance and choice as everyone of us. Some chose meat, some choise veg. That's the big word, choice.
ask him if he likes being vegetarian and if he ever thought about eating meat.....As long as you have nutricious food then hes okay..but what does he think...have you sked your partner
I think your wrong.I became a vegetarian at 7 even though my mum didn't want me to be and I haven't touched meat since.I'm now 25 and still perfectly healthy.
He isn't your son so mind your own business.
I think its his mothers decision not yours. I hated it when my (now ex) step dad tried to take decisions away from my dad.
A vegetarian diet is much healthier, and as long as he is getting sufficient nutrients, he should be ok.
I've been vegetarian 4 years now, I still get a cold. But I got colds when I ate meat.
ALL kids have runny noses. If anything, he's probably a lot healthier than most kids his age. His mother is right and you should stay out of it.
People who think that you HAVE to have meat or animal products (dairy, eggs) to be healthy at ANY stage of life (including infancy, childhood, pregnancy, lactation) do NOT understand our bodies nutritoinal needs, all of which can be met from the proper plant sources.
Just, when the child is over at your place, encourage them to eat a variety of legumes, green leafy vegetables, fresh fruits and veggies. If he heats those things he'll be fine.
His tendency to be sick is NOT from vegetarianism. It is quite possible that a well-meaning veggie/vegan parent COULD have their child on too narrow of a diet (meaning, not the right balance of the right plant foods) but that is a problem with understanding nutritional needs. BUT it's no worse than thinking that you HAVE to have meat to be healthy. BOth are ignrance, a lack of proper understanding of nutrition.
It is his mothers choice how to raise her child. When you have children you can raise them however you want. Just because he always "seems" to be ill does not mean he is. Kids get colds all the time. Cold and illness are from germs, not diets.
The reason he "seems" to be sick all the time is because that is what you are looking for. Very similar to the old wives tale about full moons having more crime, you can find police that agree with this, but statistics show it is false. The only reason those nights seem to have more crime is because the person remembers them more because they are expecting crime with the full moon. When something happens they link it to the moon, thus thier beleifs are validated.
I work as a nanny to three children. They are sick all winter, it seems as soon as they get over one problem they have another.
When the child is old enough he can make his own decisions on the matter. Hopefully in the mean time you will not try and go against his mother by trying to convince him meat is good, etc. This will only cause problems between the his mother and father and the kid will be caught in the middle.
I also enjoy Al's double standard on issues. In another question posed by a girl wanting to go vegetarian and her mother was against the idea, he said children should not make thier own decisions on what they eat. Now since the issue involves the child choosing meat, the child should choose.
I think you should treat this like any other decision his parents have made, You wouldn't go about trying to change the childs religion if it were different from yours, or try and feed him views on how what he believes is wrong, would you?
are you sure it's not just allergies that are making him appear like he has a cold?
i'm a veggie but still get hay-fever & any colds, if it's a strong one doing the rounds.
vegetarians are healthier, spend less time at the docs & will live longer, FACT.
i'm sure you're just over-reacting.
he can not eat meat now & it's a bit late to expect him too it would be going against his nature.
To look no further than a biased story about parents(who happened to be vegan - NOT), is to be dumb. I say, read alot!!
If the kid is sickly, he's propably a dorito vegan. He needs veggies, whole grains and beans.
If you check out sites like these below, you'll be amazed to discover the hidden truth about food.
Muscling Out the Meat Myth http://www.vsdc.org/meatmyth.html... by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D.
http://www.famousveggie.com/peoplenew.cf...
http://www.veganmusclepower.com/...
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/...
The meat that people eat was created by plants.
“It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.”
“Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence. Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer.“
-ADA’s and Dietitians of Canada position on Vegetarian and Vegan diets
It all depends. Vegetarians often are more healthy than meat eaters. As far as him being sick, that could just be his predisposition. So long as he's getting the right amount of protein, carbs, and fat, and all the micro-nutrients (which many meat eaters don't get) he'll be fine.
Have you ever noticed how many nutritionists are vegetarian? They are proportionately more likely to eat that way if not as a lifestyle, then more often. I think that it says something when someones job is to study the affects of food on the body, and they eat a certain way. Just something to consider.