Also, the parents on this forum are like most parents: they want the very best for their children. They hardly take their decisions likely, and they certainly have the right to bring up their own children their own way! We ALL do that. Whether the V diet is harmful, well, I’m not qualified to answer that; but I think if your child is growing well, happy and has a clear mind, then bravo! I think it is much harder to feed your child the V way and make sure you cover all the bases than it is for us omnivores – so I admire your dedication.

And as far as trusting the current conventional wisdom of nutritionists today, well, there is some really bad science out there! We once thought the world was flat!

It is not clear by any means that it is genetic, but it`s comforting to assume that. Are you very small? Children are usually taller than their parents, by the way.

I can suggest a tiny experiment (on the grand scale of things) that will show you whether it`s genetic or not. Try giving Rasine everything for a year (meat, eggs, dairy) and see if she develops much better and faster that way. Children are supposed to grow very fast at her age, and if she doesn`t, something is wrong, despite of how good it sounds, or how many doctors, nutritionists, books say otherwise.

I also wanted to add, soy milk and tofu are not very healthy. These are very processed foods that interfere with digestion. In addition, soy is very high in phytic acid, a powerful antinutrient that carries vitamins and minerals out of the body. While the soy industry is making billions of dollars from advertising these produtcs to people who think they are correct substitutes for milk and meat, they are not. You should try to read some contrary evidence – for the sake of the truth, even if that truth does not agree with the vegetarian movement. Note that in general, the vegetarian diet is very high in carbs (and also phytic acid — beans, cereals also have this substance).

You may know that Omega-3 fatty acids are crucial for brain development and the formation of myelin. The sources found in flax or other veg sources NOT the same as the ones in fish, I am sorry. I have read many academic papers regarding this and I can back it up. And guess which omega-3 source are people better at processing? Fish.

Here is an article from the news that is easy to read: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-150859/How-vegetarian-diets-harm-childs-IQ.html#ixzz0ryBPcYxZ

Also, I put at the end of the message, an academic article about the mental health of vegetarians (the largest study that I know of)

It took me some time to write this, and I could write about many other nutrients that can easily be deficient in a veg*n diet.
I am doing it with the sincere hope, probably in vain, that I may help someone, despite the fact that they do not want to hear what I`m saying. I have been vegetarian for eight years, and had to quit because of serious health problems. I wish people would not risk their lives, and certainly not the lives of their children, for the sake of moral arguments that stand shaky when examined closely. Maybe one day there will be perfect substitutes for meat, and then I will be the first to encourage the vegetarian movement. Until that day comes, I wish I never became one, because of the many health problems that I went through.

Domnica

Also, here is an academic article that discovers something less studied (but that entirely matches my own experience and that of other people that I have observed to suffer from anxiety and/or depression as vegetarians).
– “How does the health and well-being of young Australian vegetarian and semi-vegetarian women compare with non-vegetarians?” (http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=978676)

Objective To compare the sociodemographic characteristics, health status and health service use of vegetarians, semi-vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

Design In cross-sectional data analyses of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health in 2000, 9113 women (aged 22–27 years) were defined as non-vegetarians if they reported including red meat in their diet, as semi-vegetarians if they excluded red meat and as vegetarians if they excluded meat, poultry and fish from their diet.

Results The estimated prevalence was 3% and 10% for vegetarian and semi-vegetarian young women. Compared with non-vegetarians, vegetarians and semi-vegetarians were more likely to live in urban areas and to not be married. Vegetarians and semi-vegetarians had lower body mass index (mean (95% confidence interval): 22.2 (21.7–22.7) and 23.0 (22.7–23.3) kg m− 2) than non-vegetarians (23.7 (23.6–23.8) kg m− 2) and tended to exercise more. Semi-vegetarians and vegetarians had poorer mental health, with 21–22% reporting depression compared with 15% of non-vegetarians (P < 0.001). Low iron levels and menstrual symptoms were also more common in both vegetarian groups. Vegetarian and semi-vegetarian women were more likely to consult alternative health practitioners and semi-vegetarians reported taking more prescription and non-prescription medications. Compared with non-vegetarians, semi-vegetarians were less likely and vegetarians much less likely to be taking the oral contraceptive pill.

Conclusion The levels of physical activity and body mass indices of the vegetarian and semi-vegetarian women suggest they are healthier than non-vegetarians. However, the greater reports of menstrual problems and the poorer mental health of these young women may be of clinical significance.

For all you veg and vegan folks, thanks for writing in and supporting us in our journey of parenting (and parenting a vegan kid)! It makes me smile that Rasine has so many fans and may be inspiring to others out there.

For all you nutrition students out there who remind me of Fox news and their scare tactics, just shut it. I’m not that mommy who feeds her kid only two things (I have omni friends whose kids only eat chicken nuggets and chocolate or some other variation- where’s the balance in that? But I’m not attacking them for being negligent parents because that’s not MY kid)

I’m the mommy who has a kid who eat whole grain english muffin slathered in organic peanut butter with a side of fruit and glass of soymilk (for instance) for breakfast (today it’s homemade whole grain waffles!). I’m the mommy with the kid that was gobbling up beet greens and saying “yum, more please!” I’m the mommy whose kid delights in eating homemade hummus, homemade vegan omelettes, fresh organic blueberries off he bush…

Don’t you DARE tell me I’m being a negligent mom and don’t you DARE presume that since you are “studying” to be a nutritionist that you have the monopoly on knowledge or intelligence! Ryan and I researched long and well before we made any decisions about raising our daughter and we have visited and consulted with pediatricians and doctors (who already are practicing and reading up on current journals and not just egotistical and rude students who think they know better than anyone else how to raise and feed a kid and feel this is a valid forum for validating their own poor excuses for eating flesh). Not only did the Professional Drs and Nutritionists support us but they also noted how intelligent and healthy our child is. When my daughter outlives your kid by 20+ years, you can come tell me again how healthy your meat-eating lifestyle is.

In addition, my sister-in-laws kids are omni and their height/weight charts are on par with Rasine’s so stop saying my child is “not thriving” when it clearly is related to genes.

It`s probably safe to say that you are not doing your child a *service* (from a developmental point of view)

The fact that she is smaller than normal doesn`t exactly qualify as “thriving”. Also, if her body is smaller than normal, what makes you believe that her brain isn`t underdeveloped as well?
Sure, perhaps an IQ test would show it`s normal, but perhaps she could be doing better otherwise? You will never know and that`s comforting I guess :D

Yeah, I know it`s hard to consider this. I used to be a vegetarian for many years, so I don`t expect you to change your mind, but I couldn`t stop myself from making the comment.

Regards,
Domnica

In fact, from your posts, you seem to have the same knowlege of this lifestyle as my parents who seem to think I need beans or eggs at every meal to get the protein I need and are constantly asking when I’m going to eat meat again. You think it’s a big deal to avoid meat products; I think it’s a big deal to eat meat. That’s not wrong.

Sheree, you commented about being against the fact that children don’t get to choose this lifestyle. Okay… I really don’t know why you’re using that as an argument; when do children get to choose anything? The school they go to, if they’re move, their curfew, if they eat Halal meat, if they’re a Christian or a Jew, if they’re taught to be a homophobe or embrace differences? Children don’t choose, the beauty of growing up is they get their own opinions and they can decide things for themselves. When they leave home, it’s completely their call. I don’t think any of the parents here would hold their kids at gunpoint if they wanted to eat a steak.

Jeremy, I can’t describe enough what a bonehead I think you are. (Namecalling, I know, I’m going to shamelessly justify it with the fact that I’m a teen where most of our thinking comes from the amygdala, a primitive part of the brain that is more emotion based than the cortex…) I don’t like to toss around fancy labels and descriptions and I am only a teenager but in my AP english class we looked at a bunch of rhetorical fallacies and your arguments are overflowing with them.

Jeremy, you said this:

“I find it quite funny that despite Sherees use of valid references (which you seem to have a phobia for) and how obvious it is that Sheree has researched this issue quite thoroughly, you still seem to think that she and the rest of us have a knowledge of nutrition that is inferior to your own. Two nutrition students are now posting on this board, and as the only two who are qualified to say ANYTHING on this issue, we are treated as idiots who need to be “educated”

Okay, you really need to look into your valid sources… this:

“A 12-YEAR-OLD girl in New York brought up by her parents on a strict vegan diet has been admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition said to have left her with the spine of an 80-year-old woman.” and this:

” As for the “version of story”, it could very well have been modified, but all I did was copy and paste from an old article out of an archive…” makes me think you being the “scholar” you are needs to pay more attention to sources.

And we all eat and are all privvy to information about nutrition. You don’t need to become a nutritionist to have a say.You don’t need to be a mechanic to know how to change the oil in a car and just because you’re a mechanic doesn’t mean you do it the best. It’s the most immature, ignorant comment on this page.

And I’m going to say exactly what I saw Barbara Fisher about with your claim on the story; just because there is a story about some girl being badly malnourished who’s parents are vegan doesn’t mean that it is because of the veganism that she is malnourished. That’s called “Post hoc ergo propter hoc”, in english “after this, therefore because of this” which translates to your argument that because her parents are vegan she is badly malnourished. No, it is because the parent’s were careless or neglectful or something.

Elisa Rodriguez, this ” True. Our government violates our rights as often as possible. Did you know that property tax is against our constitutional rights” to counter the fact that the government doen’t say being a vegan is against a child’s right (sorry for the double negative) is called a “Ad Hominem”. You attack the source of the argument you want to make void, in this case, the government so you can say their legislation about food isn’t right. Doesn’t work that way honey.

The non vegan bloggers that commented on this site all assume vegans can’t take care of themselves. Thanks for the hasty generalizations but that is completely not the case and I for one am tired of people thinking it means avoiding meat and animal products without changing one’s diet.

Sheree, you said: “I’m not against people being vegans, I’m sure you’re all adults and can make your own decisions…I must say, there doesn’t seem to be a good reason in any of these posts to NOT eat meat. I would be more inclined if it were a stance against animal cruelty, of which I also oppose, but saying that you’re “helping them look at animals not as lower beings to be dominated but as peers worthy of equal treatment and consideration” I just don’t understand”

First, nice effort on the lightly veiled attempt to appeal to vegans by saying you support it when you merely tolerate it. You sure had me fooled. Sheree, what is one good reason to eat meat, other than your precious nutrients? There are so many reasons to not eat meat and I don’t really think people are posting here to see if their reasons for being vegan are good enough. And you don’t have the right to judge them, no one does.

I really don’t have any more steam for picking apart some of the extremely biased and completely ridiculous arguments put on by some of the people on this page against veganism. So I’m going to stop here (but FYI, my nutrition teacher is a vegetarian and she too believes vegetarian and vegan diets are perfectly fine, and yes, she’s certified. So you nutritionists can take your little labels and bury it.)

And always remember, if a teenager can pick apart your arguments, they’re not that great…

And I have to say, it really sucks to just be browsing on the web looking for some good ol’ veg head recipes and be met with a bunch of negativity from a bunch of jerks. If you want to discuss this, take it elsewhere, not to someone’s pretty cool blog.

Don’t bother responding, I won’t be coming back to check for responses like some of you seem to be eager to do Jeremy.

So there you go. And I think this part of the disucssion has also gone about as far as it can go.

Not to mention, a law mandating that parents absolutely must feed their children meat would violate the constitutional rights of parents whose religious beliefs preclude them from eating meat, particularly when there are perfectly healthy plant-based options available.

2C:24-4 Definitions
(1) Nutritional meals consisting of but not limited to: meats, grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy/dairy supplements, and fatty foods
(2) Consisting of but not limited to: clothing that covers at least 65 percent of the body
(3) Residence consisting of four walls and a roof, able to withstand but not limited to: wind, rain, hail, and snow
(4) Medical care consisting of but not limited to: hospitalization, sutures, ointments, prescribed medications, splints, and mental evaluations

Statutes, please?