Can You Raise a Child Vegan and Give Them All the Nutrients They Need? Benefits and Risks of a Vegan Diet for Kids + 4 Tips for the New Vegan!

More and more people these days are opting for a vegan diet for health, environmental and ethical reasons. When followed right, this diet provides various health benefits. The diet is devoid of all kinds of animal products including dairy, eggs and meat. A vegan diet includes only plant-based foods like Nuts, Legumes, Whole Grains, Fermented or Sprouted Plant Foods, Vegetables, Fruits and Plant-based dairy products. The foods included in the vegan diet are rich in Vitamins, Phytonutrients, Antioxidants and Fibre.

The main concern when it comes to a vegan diet is whether it is safe, especially for children. Although the diet is nutrient-rich, it can lack omega-3, calcium and Vitamin B12. The good news is that the dairy-free and meat-free vegan diet is safe both for you and your kids according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. You need to just ensure that your child’s diet contains all that he/she needs.

Substitutes for essential nutrients -

Vegan products such as cookies, candy and ice-creams are quite tempting and kids will not complain about their vegan diet.

The vegan diet is drawing a lot of attention these years due to the benefits it offers. It helps to maintain a healthy lifestyle without including animal food in the diet. Although it is widely believed that animal protein is essential for the body, some scientists say that the vegan diet is suitable for all stages of childhood. They also claim that they grow up to be healthy and the risk of developing heart diseases is very low as vegan diets are cholesterol-free and very low in saturated fat. The randomized controlled trials have shown that children, who had adopted a vegan diet had **lower total cholesterol and BMI.

Temper Tantrums by kids is quite common in every household during mealtime. This could be quite frustrating for parents. A common problem that almost all parents face every day is to include fruits and vegetables in children’s diet as they don’t seem to like them much. Thus, animal foods invariably become a part of the kids’ diet. So, it’s not animal products that kids are lacking in their diet, but vegetables, fruits, whole grains and other protective foods that can shield them from top killer diseases.

Statistics show that kids today are consuming excess saturated fat that is artery-clogging which are mainly found in meat and dairy products. Therefore, it is extremely important to follow a vegan diet from childhood so that kids enjoy eating fruits and vegetables normally and get enough nutrients from them. The antioxidants and fibre from fruits and veggies help protect them from various diseases.

According to experts a vegan diet with vitamin B12 supplements will provide excellent nutrition for babies to adolescents. They will grow up healthy and strong and it also reduces the risk of developing several diseases.

A study shows that people who follow a strict vegan diet are 23% less likely to develop type-2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes found due to lack of insulin production in the body to convert blood sugar into energy. Vegan foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains and legumes contain minerals, vitamins, fibre and antioxidants. These improve insulin activity in the body and ensures a lower intake of cholesterol and saturated fat.

Vitamin B12 is an important nutrient that is found in animal foods like fish, dairy products and eggs. They are a water-soluble nutrient that regulates the production of red blood cells and maintain normal brain function. The vegan diet lacks this essential vitamin and can be taken as a supplement to avoid vitamin B12 deficiency and complications that arise with it.

Proteins are known as the ‘Building blocks of life’ and are essential for our body to renew cells regularly, transport nutrients around the body, to make enzymes, hormones and antibodies. They also help in building skin, hair, nails. Protein is abundantly found in animal foods, though they are present in plant food they should be consumed in more quantities to receive enough protein required by the body. If not, it could result in protein deficiency. Plant-based protein has lower digestibility when compared to animal protein.

Plant foods contain a very low number of calories in them. Children need calories to maintain their energy levels and a vegan diet is devoid of it as milk is excluded from the diet. Without proper calorie intake, there is no energy and the organs will not function properly. Availability of calories in the diet is essential although an excess of it will result in weight gain, the absence of it can cause many severe problems in the body.

Are you planning to support your child by adopting the lifestyle yourself? Here are a few things you need to know beforehand.