Children 'harmed' by vegan diets

Putting children on strict vegan diets is "unethical" and could harm their development, a US scientist has argued.

Lindsay Allen, of the US Agricultural Research Service, attacked parents who insisted their children lived by the maxim "meat is murder".


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4282257.stm

Any thought's??

 

I am sure there is a big difference between children being raised on a vegan diet in a western country and children growing up on a vegan diet in a malnourished country.....I think as long as the child is given supplements (if needed) and is well cared for then a vegan diet would have little or no impact..Though in a country which is experiencing high levels of poverty I am sure meat within the diet can provide easy well needed nourishment...


This is all in my opinion and not really based on facts..I will defer to Claire on this as I am sure she will be posting replies to this thread

 

Well it's a load of shit basically

Diary and meat give you cholestorol.

You can get every single vitamin, mineral and fat you need to be healthy from a vegan diet if you eat wisely.

eating wisely applies to vegans and non-vegans... an unbalanced omni or veggi diet is just as bad for you as an unbalanced vegan diet.

My mum (a meat eater) is a nutritionalist and has approved my diet wholeheartedly... I am a vegan btw in case you didnt figure that out

 

all of these are found in non meat / diary alternatives and are easy to consume in enough quantities to keep you healthy without resorting to an omni diet...

I find it quite sad a doctor has shown herself to be so foolish...

good point... that's one thing that is harder to keep on top on as a vegan unless you eat a lot of dark green vegetables... but I love brocilli and spinach so it isn't an issue for me

*rant over*..... for now

 

yeah, load of old bollocks

N E X T !

 

veganism is a load of bollocks, of course children are going to suffer, besides NEVER ARGUE WITH SCIENCE

 

hahaha

 

im not vegan, but ive been vegetarian since about 8 or 9, and people would always get on my mom about it. told her i'd stunt my growth and such..i was always one of the tallest in my class plus i missed a *lot* of school the year before i became veggie, and after i did i became a lot less sickly..i mean, a lot of other things could've contributed to the change, but im just sayin..

 

sorry to go off topic, but i love your sig quote....

 

Yeah, I read that article too. I was suprized that the bbc even posted it on their site. the problems with that guys arguement are staggering. Doing a study on children in West Africa where they were vegan not from choice, but from poverty, without proper nutritional information or access to supplements, etc. and then calling all children Vegan diets "unethical" is ridiculous.

 

Well, when people have fixed views to start with…. They tend to pick and choose the evidence and results to substantiate the outcome they wanted to achieve at the outset.


It’s quite upsetting he/she used starving children in Africa (which is an obviously emotive subject) to try to "scare tactic" us into believing an un grounded study

 

raising your kid on a vegan diet is ok as long as you give them the choice to eat meat and dont tell them its murder. let them make their own decisions.

 

I agree with the idea of what you are saying...

I have to point out though that animals have no choice in whether they get murdered for food or not

It's a difficult ethical dilema that's for sure

 

thats what animals are there for. people eat animals, animals eat animals, animals eat people, people eat people.

No one really has a choice if they are eaten or not, and as long as its for food, its not murder. (in the people eating animals and animals eating animals idea)

 

well if we go by natures past maybe yes you have a good point

But I think that humans are evolving... we don't NEED to eat meat so to carry on doing so is quite backwards (and barbaric)... surely humans are a little better than an unthinking pandering to basic needs?

just my opinion...

killing a living creature is always murder... unless they asked you to do it for say, euthanasia.

IMO of course

 

no most people need meat to survive. If they have a health problem or just like it. Plus without meat, that just gets rid of so many good food and thats stupid as hell. I sitll want my mexican and chinese foods with meat.

 

I see the children have joined the conversation. Just a hint from the grown-ups - it's usually a good idea to educate yourself before engaging your mouth. Otherwise you just make yourself look like a stupid kid.

 

Meat is a food... no one needs just one certain food to survive... we need nutrients and vitamins... which we can get from many different sources

If your choice is to eat meat... then ok... it's your choice.

But it isn't needed to survive or be healthy... thats a myth.

I love mexican food (on a side point!) yummy chilli

 

fuck you i know what im talking about and I stand by it. mayeb you need to educate yourself. Your so ignorant to younger people.

 

well thats just it then! you cant just live on meat, you need other food too. but meat isnt murder, its just something people and animals both eat to survive. well mainly animals. plus, its really your preference to eat it or not. If you sdont like it or dont believe in eating meat thats fine, just dont tell people how "bad" and "barbaric" it is.