rebuttal to the vegan is bad for children story

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

 

I remember this topic coming up a while back and thought you might be interested

in the article from Reed Mangels, PhD, RD. It was in VRG-news.

 

Katie

http://frugalveggiemama.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

2) CHILDREN CAN BE HEALTHY ON A VEGAN DIET

 

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

 

In February of this year, the BBC produced a news story headlined

" Children Harmed by Vegan Diets. " The story was loosely based on

research conducted in Africa by Lindsay Allen, a researcher who works

for USDA and who focuses on the nutritional needs of children in

developing countries. Dr. Allen had recently presented the results of

one of her studies at a scientific meeting in Washington, D.C. This

study examined under-nourished school children in Kenya whose usual

diet was based on beans and corn. The children were divided into

groups and given extra calories in the form of meat, milk, or oil. Not

surprisingly, children whose diets had more calories grew more than

their classmates who were on an unsupplemented diet. The children who

received 2 ounces of meat also did better on an intelligence test,

possibly because the meat supplied some of the iron and zinc that were

lacking in the children's diets. So far, so good. If children are on a

diet that is low in calories (and probably in protein and other

nutrients) and they are given more food, good things like growth will

happen. The same sort of growth and improved mental function would

probably have happened if the children had been given soybeans or tofu

or even more beans and corn than they usually got to eat.

 

What happened next is an example of what can take place when results

of a research study are reported to the public. Somehow, a study on

under-nourished children in Kenya was used to support the idea that

vegan diets are not healthy for children. In the BBC story, Dr. Allen

is quoted as saying, " There's absolutely no question that it's

unethical for parents to bring up their children as strict vegans " and

" There have been sufficient studies clearly showing that when women

avoid all animal foods, their babies are born small, they grow very

slowly and they are developmentally retarded, possibly permanently. "

What? How did we go from a study of poor children in Kenya eating a

very limited diet to vegan children in the United States who have

access to a huge variety of foods? It's been stated that Dr. Allen was

quoted out of context or even misquoted. In any case, an unfortunate

and incorrect message was conveyed to huge numbers of people.

 

In reality, infants and children can grow and thrive on well-planned

vegan diets. The American Dietetic Association clearly states,

" Well-planned vegan ... diets are appropriate for all stages of the life

cycle, including pregnancy and lactation. " Studies of vegan pregnancy

show that babies have normal birth weights and grow and develop

normally.

 

As we face an epidemic of obesity in this country, where even young

children are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and it's becoming

more common for teens to need to turn to medication to lower their

elevated cholesterol levels, shouldn't we be encouraging the vegan

family whose diet includes a variety of whole foods (with a reliable

source of vitamin B-12 and other key nutrients) rather than promoting

a way of eating that revolves around fatty animal products, refined

grains, and sugary snacks.