Inspired by Evil Queen's healthy eating thread- kids who are vegetarians

[luvflorida]

DD15 has been a vegetarian for about six years. She was never really a big lover of meat, but did eat chicken when she was younger. After a trip to Key West where she saw all the cute chickens and roosters roaming free, she gave up eating chicken.

She eats NO meat, poultry, or fish. The problem is that she doesn't like a heck of a lot of other things. We've tried veggie burgers, (she didn't like them), and she doesn't like most vegetables. She has a VERY limited selection of food that she likes. Her favorite foods are cheese pizza, spaghetti with marina sauce, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, toasted peanut butter sandwiches, and grilled cheese. She doesn't drink milk, but will eat a bowl of cereal with milk on it every morning. She doesn't like ANY juices, (orange, apple, etc.), but will eat apples, watermelon, grapes, and strawberries. She drinks plenty of water, but I know her diet is lacking in a lot of areas.

I'm okay with her being a vegetarian and I certainly respect her feelings about not wanting to eat animals. But I worry that she isn't getting all the proper vitamins and nutrients she needs. She is extremely active, dances anywhere from 9-12 hours a week, with one class devoted to fitness. She knows she needs to eat properly in order to stay healthy for dance.

My question is- If your child/teen is a vegetarian, how do you know if they're eating a truly healthy diet? Do you give them a daily multi-vitamin? What do they eat to replace the protein in meat, fish, or poultry?

 

[luvflorida]

bumping- anyone have teens who are vegetarians? What are some of their favorite foods? Thanks!

 

[budbeerlady]

Bump, I am curious too.
DD is not very fond of meat. She prefers the Morning Star Cheeseburger to real meat. But I think sometimes our new diet is lacking. We eat too much pasta and rice in my mind.

 

[Zandy595]

My 15 year old cousin is a vegetarian and has the worst diet. I don't think she gets any protein.

I would suggest seeing a nutritionist to make sure she is getting what she needs to be healthy. Or at the very least go to the library and check out some books on vegetarianism.

 

[dumboiu]

My question is- If your child/teen is a vegetarian, how do you know if they're eating a truly healthy diet? Do you give them a daily multi-vitamin? What do they eat to replace the protein in meat, fish, or poultry?

I would guess yes on a multi-vitamin.....and probably make sure it has ample B12.
Beans, rice, any dairy or eggs they will eat are good sources of protein. Remember, American diets consist of too much of everything (protein included).

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

My 15 DS has been a vegetarian since he was 9. I tease and call him a pastatarian since he eats lots of pasta. Actually he eats lots of beans, cheese, some vegies and just discovered tofu. He loves juices - probably the odder the combination the better. He doesn't eat eggs, fish, or meat but like your daughter will eat cereal with milk.

I too worry that he isn't eating enough of the right things but he seems to be growing fine and feeling fine. All of his check ups are fine. He takes a multivitamin every day.

I'd love some food suggestions also.

 

[Hedy]

Have you tried other "fake meats" (eg quorn breat, chik'n nuggets?) those can be good for quick protein. Have you tried seitan or tempeh? Quinoa is a grain that is a complete protein. I'm also a fan of black beans. Vegetarian times (magazine or cookbook, I got the cookbook last year) can be a great resource.

Does she go to the grocery store with you? If they have a healthfood-ish aisle, that can be a good resource.

 

[Snow Brite]

My son became an adamant veggie in Kindergarten and has been ever since. I took him grocery shopping with me and let him pick out some things that looked good in the veggie section, fake meats, tofu, etc. He LOVES the whole milk yogurt by Brown Cow which we found there. Then we went to Whole Foods and found more things that he liked. This has been very helpful.

Then we found some veggie restaurants and went to them to try some different things and that has been good too. Its fun to see how they prepare things and try different tastes.

When I make dinner I make him a tofu version of whatever we are eating. I rarely make him something totally different. We do fight a bit about eating vegetables. I am constantly saying you are a VEGEtarian! That means you EAT vegetables buddy! We did do some education for both of us on nutrition, and he can tell you what he had that was a protein, a carb, a fruit/veggie, etc for today. And he is in 2nd grade, so I would think your teenager could do this as well.

I do worry that he is eating too many high fat foods for his protein, cheese and dairy, but he is healthy and not fat at all, and gets good exercise, so I guess so far it is working ok.

 

[MzDiz]

Go here - http://mypyramid.gov/ - and have her enter all the foods she eats for a few days to get an overall picture of her nutrition. It's a great tool.
My 15 year old daughter is veggie too. Luckily, she likes a lot of indian and middle eastern foods.

 

[blueroses]

I think your question could be posed to any teen, not just vegetarians. I have been mostly vegetarian for years (I don't like the taste of meat) and can attest that it's very easy to fall into the the pasta and peanut butter rut. And I like vegetables - I just am too lazy to prepare them sometimes.

Have you tried eating some cuisines that lend themselves to being meat-free? Asian or Indian? How about Mexican subbing more beans and grilled vegetables for the meat?

If none of these work (for now, because tastes change), go with a multi-vitamin, make sure she's getting enough fiber, and make sure she's getting enough total calories to get through the day. The protein will take care of itself with the cheese and peanut butter even if those are high-fat ways to get it.

Will she eat eggs or egg beaters? Those are a great source of protein. If you go with beans, try to serve them with brown rice. Soy and quinoa are complete plant-based proteins, but the others need to be combined to get all the amino acids you need.

Good luck. And I don't think your daughter is eating worse than any of her non-veg peers from the looks what you said about her habits. It's good that you're aware though.

 

[luvflorida]

Go here - http://mypyramid.gov/ - and have her enter all the foods she eats for a few days to get an overall picture of her nutrition. It's a great tool.
My 15 year old daughter is veggie too. Luckily, she likes a lot of indian and middle eastern foods.

Thanks for the website. I just checked it out and will go back and spend more time on it.

 

[luvflorida]

Have you tried eating some cuisines that lend themselves to being meat-free? Asian or Indian? How about Mexican subbing more beans and grilled vegetables for the meat?

Will she eat eggs or egg beaters? Those are a great source of protein. If you go with beans, try to serve them with brown rice.

She does not eat eggs or any type of beans. She doesn't like Asian, Indian or Mexican food. She's not very adventurous when it comes to food and she just doesn't like a lot of it.

I am going to make sure she takes a multi-vitamin every day, and take her with me to the grocery store to pick out some things she might like from the healthy/natural food aisle, like someone suggested.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions!

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I've been vegetarian since I was 14 (I'm 49 now) and my food preferences sound a lot like your daughters!

I know my diet isn't the healthiest in the world, but it's probably healthier than people who live on fast food.

Juice (according to 2 dieticians I've worked with) is not terribly healthy--they both say it's much better to eat fruit. They recommend not more than 6 oz of juice per day as it is mostly empty calories (sugar).

Some reasonably healthy snacks/quick foods you can have around the house are nuts (certain nights are high in the good kinds of fats, including walnuts and almonds), hummus (OK, I usually eat it with chips, but it's good on toast or crackers!), raisins, peanut butter minus trans fats,avocado or guacamole (another good fat!), and bean tacos or burritos.


You can also bring her into a natural foods store and see if there are any frozen entrees that appeal to her. Many of the veggie entrees made by Amy's, Moosewood, etc. have really good ingredients and are nice to have around for a quick meal.

I take a vegan multivitamin and an omeg-3 supplement made from sea algae.

 

[x morgan]

I'm also a vegetarian (14 years old) and my mom always makes sure I take a lot of vitamins and eat extra healthy (although that's not much of a problem.) You said she didn't drink milk, have you tried soy milk? Sometimes people like that better.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We're vegetarian and my 12yo is a very picky eater. He eats pasta with marinara sauce, fett alfredo, mexican food (bean burritos, nachos) pizza (almost daily...), one type of vegie burger (Morningstar Farms Tomato Basil), and very limited ethnic food (ie, if we get Indian food he likes the bread, rice, and hot green sauce). He will eat fruit, but little vegies.

I've told him that he either needs to become less picky or when he's older he needs to start eating meat. He doesn't like either of those options. The vegie burgers is a fairly new thing, so hopefully he will start trying and liking other things.

He's also very athletic and plays about 16 hours of very competitive baseball a week, plus playing basketball, etc in our driveway. I know that he'd be evern stronger if he was eating better, but there is no reasoning with him. Drives me nuts!