Raising a baby on vegan egan food requires consultation ltation
Consulting with professionals is always necessary to ensure a safe vegan diet for babies
There’s a right way and a wrong way to raise a baby on vegan food. Those who get it wrong, parents say, give the responsible ones a bad name.
A Pennsylvania mother claiming to be vegan was charged this month with child endangerment for feeding her baby nothing but small amounts of nuts and berries. In Italy, after a number of vegan babies required hospitalization for malnourishment, a lawmaker this summer proposed a bill that would make it a crime to feed children under 16 a vegan diet.
Those cases are not about veganism at all, but are instead about neglect, say parents who are raising their children vegan. Pinning bad parenting on vegan diets, some say, unfairly stigmatizes those who have done their homework and are safely raising their babies without feeding them animal products like meat and dairy.
“They stress the elements of veganism in these stories, but it’s not that these people aren’t giving their children the right kind of food, it’s that they aren’t feeding them,” said Fulvia Serra, of Fort Collins, Colorado. The native of southern Italy is raising her 1-year-old son vegan, and her 12-year-old daughter is vegetarian.
“To get a child to the point of starvation, it means you are ignoring him and his crying all the time,” she said. “It’s neglect.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics’ book Pediatric Nutrition devotes a chapter to vegetarian and vegan diets. It describes how, with sound nutrition and dietary planning, “it is possible to provide a balanced diet to vegetarians and vegans”.
“For children in general you can have a safe vegan diet, but it has to be in consultation with a pediatrician or healthcare provider,” said Sheela Magge, an endocrinologist at the Children’s National Health System and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on nutrition . “These are critical times in brain development, and it has to be done carefully.”
The ideal first food for babies is breast milk, Magge said. Many vegan moms opt to breastfeed, but for those who can’t or don’t, the only other option is a soy-based formula.
Key nutrients for babies are Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin D, as well as iron, zinc and calcium, Magge said. Getting enough B-12, which comes from milk and eggs, is a specific concern in the vegan diet, since a shortage can lead to neurological problems.
As babies nurse less and start consuming more solid foods, parents need to make sure all the nutrients necessary for proper development are being provided. A pediatrician can help guide parents and offer supplements if needed.