Vegetarian Children- Curious

[Ciciwoowoo]

To those of you who have children, specifically younger than 10, who are vegetarians, how did this come about?

Are you a vegetarian?

How do you feel about the lack of animal protein in their diet?

What do you do to ensure the child is getting proper nutrition?

And, who made this decision? The child or the parents?


My personal opinion: these children are missing out on some vital nutrients during their growing years. People were meant to be omnivores.

Convince me otherwise, if you disagree with me.

(No, this was not meant to be argumentive; I simply am astounded when I read about children who are vegetarians. I assume this is more of a teenager or grow up to be a hippy choice)

 

[bumbershoot]

We are vegetarian, therefore our son is.

No I'm not worried. No I do not believe that we need any part of an animal to thrive.

As soon as we can take down a cow with our bare hands and sad pathetic grinding teeth that aren't even sharp, you might convince me that we are meant to do it, but then the person would probably get sick from eating the raw carcass, if they could even get the skin off using our non-sharp teeth (highly unlikely), and once again I'd be back to "nope, not omnivores at all"!


And once he realized what meat is (very early, as we have always talked openly with him, especially since I have a sneaky mother in law who has tried to trick ME, a vegetarian for 22 years now, into eating meat and he needed to know to not eat anything she offers without checking with us first) and what is done to animals to get it (I think that many children would balk at meat if told the absolute truth...but so many people lie about it!), he's had zero interest in it at all. You'd have to trick him to eat it, and we would certainly not appreciate that!

 

[NHdisneylover]

My son is 12. He is NOT a vegetarian, but the meats he has ever been willing to eat is chicken or turkey and even that he will not eat really frequently (maybe once or twice a week).

I don't eat red meat or pork, so possibly this is somewhat due to him having been mostly exposed to poultry only in my cooking. However I make and serve other things fairly often for DH and DD, and we ate out, etc. I recall him gagging on and spitting out little pieces of ham and also ground beef as a toddler--so I think it is mostly just a taste thing with him.

Other than asthma and allergies issues, he is a very healthy kid. Almost never sick and when he is it never lasts more than about 24 hours (even the swine flu which knocked his sister out for two weeks was less than 2 days for him). He is a dancer and now that puberty is hitting he has really hard muscles all over his legs, so I think he is finding protien to build them somewhere in his diet

He eats whole grains (which have a surprisingly large amount of protein), lots of nuts (especially peanuts) and he DOES eat eggs a few times a week (I know not all vegetarians do). All of these, as well as dairy products have protein.

Honestly, I think a child who does not eat meat, but does eat whole grains, and hates french fries (actually, in the last 2 years he will eat them if we are out and he is still hungry after finishing everything else on his plate--but it is always a last choice for him) has a healthier diet than many typical American children who tend to eat a lot of processed and fat heavy (breaded chicken fingers, fries, etc) foods.

 

[Gisele]

I assure you that vegetarian children taste alot like those that eat meat.

 

[Northstar]

My daughter (now 13) decided to stop eating meat when she was 10. I told her that was fine with me, but I didn't think it would be good to go totally vegan (no animal protein at all in the diet) while she was growing. That was fine with her. She just didn't want to eat animals.

She kind of follows the "face" rule... if it has a face, don't eat it. So she still eats milk and milk products and eggs. She gets a lot of her protein also from nuts, seeds, and beans. She likes tofu.

DH and I eat meat, but usually not a whole lot of meat. I tend to cook chicken or pork in the oven, then throw a few slices of that into whatever main dish I cook for supper. There's a lot of recipes geared towards "flexitarian" cooking, for people who cook for a mixed group of vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

 

[ford family]

We are vegetarian, therefore our son is.

No I'm not worried. No I do not believe that we need any part of an animal to thrive.

As soon as we can take down a cow with our bare hands and sad pathetic grinding teeth that aren't even sharp, you might convince me that we are meant to do it, but then the person would probably get sick from eating the raw carcass, if they could even get the skin off using our non-sharp teeth (highly unlikely), and once again I'd be back to "nope, not omnivores at all"!


And once he realized what meat is (very early, as we have always talked openly with him, especially since I have a sneaky mother in law who has tried to trick ME, a vegetarian for 22 years now, into eating meat and he needed to know to not eat anything she offers without checking with us first) and what is done to animals to get it (I think that many children would balk at meat if told the absolute truth...but so many people lie about it!), he's had zero interest in it at all. You'd have to trick him to eat it, and we would certainly not appreciate that!

Notwithstanding your personal eating preferences, our species has evolved as omnivorous. The ability to eat whatever foodstuffs were available at any given season or location was one of the major factors in humans being so successful as we competed with other species millions of years ago.

ford family

 

[WDWBarb]

I have been a vegetarian for 22 years. DD was allowed to make her own decisions and she gave up meat at age 10. I'm not a hippie. I just believe in a compassionate lifestyle.

There is a plethora of research that shows that veganism is the healthiest lifestyle choice. Protein, cholesterol and fat is excessive on the American omnivore's plate.

DD has several medical conditions (NOT related to food choices) and every time we see a new doctor they immediately assume she isn't getting enough protein. So they run tests and act surprised when it comes back strong. How can a cow provide so much protein in his/her flesh and they are strict vegetarians themselves if meat is the only source of protein? . Doesn't make sense. Many vegetables have a higher protein per calorie ratio than meat.

 

[mrsv98]

I am not a strict veggie, I eat poultry and fish, but no red meat, pork, lamb or game. DD has never had red meat and eats a limited amount of poultry and trust me, she is healthy, intelligent and growing well. She is 11 now and I have told her if she wants to try red meat some time she may try something high quality but she has shown no interest and in fact is fairly revolted about meat in general.

Throughout her life, I have made sure she has plenty of protein in the form of beans, cheese, yogurt, etc. Additionally, she eats a lot of fruit, a moderate amount of veggies and plenty of whole grains. There is a lot of heart disease in my family and I am determined to protect her as best I can and this includes limiting the amount of saturated fats she gets.

 

[design_mom]

My good friend's son became a vegetarian when he was 5. (Now 10.) It was around the time that he realized that meat came from animals. He said, "I don't want to eat animals. That's mean." I was really surprised that he would feel that strongly at such a young age, especially since his family is not vegetarian and, as far as I know, he didn't know any other vegetarian children.

The rest of the family is not strictly vegetarian. They do a lot of meatless meals to prevent making two different things, but the rest of them will eat meat. When it became obvious that her son was serious about vegetarianism, my friend did research on how to make sure he was still getting the proper nutrients/protein. He's stuck with it for 5 years and he's a healthy/happy boy.

 

[pensgirl10]

I'm a vegetarian but raised my children as meat-eaters. Like a lot of things in marriage, it was a compromise, because the issue was more important to my meat-eating husband. Also, I lacked the confidence to be really sure my kids were getting everything they needed. Now, with nutritional info easily found and all the resources available on the internet, I wouldn't hesitate to raise a child as a vegetarian. Over 25 years later, I'm healthier than most people I know.

A couple of the kids did ask about giving up meat. I told them sure if they were going to eat beans, a wide variety of veggies etc. They were my picky eaters and that didn't appeal. The youngest has always been a very good eater and that includes meats, no interest in giving it up. They are all adults now. My son has been a vegetarian for a year or so and while the girls understand the compassionate side of the issue they continue to eat meat because, well, they like it.

 

[pensgirl10]

My good friend's son became a vegetarian when he was 5. (Now 10.) It was around the time that he realized that meat came from animals. He said, "I don't want to eat animals. That's mean." I was really surprised that he would feel that strongly at such a young age, especially since his family is not vegetarian and, as far as I know, he didn't know any other vegetarian children.

That's interesting. I was about the same age when I first wanted to give up meat. That was the late '60s and I guarantee there were no vegetarians around the neighborhood or even anywhere I might have heard of such a thing.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

My family is the opposite of that. I am the vegetarian and my kids are NOT vegetarian. They have talked about becoming vegetarian a few times then decide they really want to go to McDonald's so that idea doesn't last very long.

I don't totally like the idea of raising a kid as a vegetarian from birth. I think children should be old enough to decide for themselves before you take that food source away from them.

Same way I don't believe in these parents who take little helpless babies to get their ears pierced. They may not want holes in their ears but these parents are making these choices for them.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

To those of you who have children, specifically younger than 10, who are vegetarians, how did this come about?

DD is 14 and is "pouletarian" (will eat turkey or chicken, occasionally, but not on a day to day basis), but has been "working towards" vegetarianism since 11 or 12.

Are you a vegetarian?

No. She is the only one in the house who is.

How do you feel about the lack of animal protein in their diet? What do you do to ensure the child is getting proper nutrition?

Doesn't bother me. She eats cheese, beans, peanut butter. And still actually will eat chicken and turkey occasionally. She had a very minor weight problem in 6th grade, and her diet change helped her get where she wanted to be.

And, who made this decision? The child or the parents?

Child did.

 

[Toystoryfan32]

My 15 year old daughter has never really been a huge meat eater. She gave up eating chicken, beef, pork etc. about four months ago. We didnt see a problem with is as long as she still continued to eat healthy. Not eating a bag of chips and drinking soda like some teens do. She does eat dairy and eggs and on occasion fish or shrimp. She also eats a lot of veggies and fruit as well as beans, nuts, greek yogurt, tofu, whole grains. Her culinary arts class at school has also been very accomodating to her. They always allow her to prepare a vegetarian option. I have also been suprised at how many meatless meals we have made at home that we meat eaters have loved!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

My dd is a vegetarian by her choice. She decided at 5 that she wanted to stop eating meat after seeing a cartoon of a Thanksgiving turkey raising its' head and saying "don't eat me." I guess that was enough to get her to start thinking where food comes from.

Dh and I thought it would be a phase and that she would eventually out grow it. However, that was 5 years ago and she still won't eat meat. We definitely would not have made that decision for her, because the rest of our family are meat eaters and it makes balancing her diet a lot more challenging.

DD eats beans, edamame, nuts, yogurt and cheese for protein. I worry about her, particularly now that she is getting close to puberty and will probably need more iron soon. Her pediatrician doesn't have any problem with her being a vegetarian and has provided a lot of suggestions on what she should be eating to offset not eating meat.

 

[NikitaZee]

My dd is a vegetarian by her choice. She decided at 5 that she wanted to stop eating meat after seeing a cartoon of a Thanksgiving turkey raising its' head and saying "don't eat me." I guess that was enough to get her to start thinking where food comes from.

Dh and I thought it would be a phase and that she would eventually out grow it. However, that was 5 years ago and she still won't eat meat. We definitely would not have made that decision for her, because the rest of our family are meat eaters and it makes balancing her diet a lot more challenging.

DD eats beans, edamame, nuts, yogurt and cheese for protein. I worry about her, particularly now that she is getting close to puberty and will probably need more iron soon. Her pediatrician doesn't have any problem with her being a vegetarian and has provided a lot of suggestions on what she should be eating to offset not eating meat.

Our six year old is going through this right now. She's decided that she really doesn't want to eat animals. So I'm looking into ways to make sure she gets the protein she needs in a healthy way, minus the meat. She still likes eggs, and the occasional meat dish, but when she really thinks about what she's putting into her mouth she declines meat dishes.
The more I discover about yummy non-meat protein choices, the more I'm thinking I might join her . Sometimes the thought of what I'm eating, meat-wise, bothers me too. Although - I can't ever imagine truly giving up my favorites (like rib-eyes), for good.

 

[Sorsha]

Having been raised in a religion that espouses vegetarianism as part of their "health doctrine", I can assure you that it is perfectly possible for people to spend their entire lives as herbivores and be quite healthy. Most devout Seventh-day Adventist families do so from birth. Many other cultures in places like India do so as well.

Now, mind you, its not a choice *I* could ever make; for myself, or my family, we just love our meat too much. But I have attended many a vegetarian meal/potluck/gathering in my life, and I know how they work, for both children and adults.

It is quite possible to get all the protein/iron/calcium a person needs from a vegetarian diet. Beans, tofu, soybeans, leafy greens, peanut butter, eggs, dairy, etc can all add the essential nutrients to the diet. In addition, almost all markets carry pre-made vegetarian "meat replacement" products. Adventists, in particular, produce and market Loma Linda and Worthington brands. (At least they used to, no idea if someone else has bought them out by now.) DH and I were raised eating these with various family members, and we still keep some on hand for a quick and easy meal once in a while - besides they are shelf-stable and keep well for emergencies.

Would I do it for MY family? No.

Do I think its OK for kids in general? Absolutely.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

When we were 7, my best friend decided to become a vegetarian. She didn't have any reason, she just decided one day to stop eating meat. She still ate pepperonis, however, until she was about 10 or 11, because she thought they were a pepper, and I didn't tell her otherwise. Her diet when we were kids was awful - she would eat pepperoni pizza with no cheese, and baked potatoes smothered in fake cheese sauce. Thinking back on it, I would not be surprised if she had an eating disorder. We were best friends until high school, then parted ways. We somewhat keep in touch now, and I know she is a vegan and believes anyone who eats meat is a fattie. It sounds like her diet has expanded to be more healthy now.

 

[VBsHustla]

I was a vegetarian child by my own volition. My family had no other vegetarians and I hardly even knew any others. It's not unhealthy. I certainly consider my diet, which primarily consisted of (and still consists of) whole grains, potatoes and sweet potatoes, beans, lots of vegetables, and lots of fruit a lot healthier than many alternative kid diets. The kids I babysit for eat the following EVERY single day: frozen waffles or french toast for breakfast with drinkable flavored yogurt things (that are literally purple and lime green!), Wendy's for lunch complete with Frosties, and takeout pizza for dinner! No one says a word, yet I was criticized constantly when I was younger for my unhealthy diet. I find it baffling.

I also think it's kind of weird that some people find it inappropriate for parents to raise kids as vegetarians, simply because the kids haven't chosen it. (I'm not referring to anyone here; I've literally been asked this question for no reason in real life.) I'm not a parent, but I'm assuming instilling values in kids is an important part of parenting, so if it's a value I consider important, why would I not want to instill it in my kids?

 

[Schmeck]

My youngest became a vegetarian as a toddler. She has a lovely gag reflex with meat. My mom used to try to get her to eat meat, but stopped when she choked on a bite of turkey and threw up all over the Thanksgiving dinner table. She was two years old that last time a piece of meat touched her lips (and ended up on my mom's plate, LOL!)

She gets her protein from soy, dairy, and other foods. She has long, thick, curly hair, a well developed brain (National Merit Scholar) and dances 7+ hours a week, along with taking a full AP schedule at school and an extra AP class at MIT on Sundays. I do believe she is getting all the proper nutrition, without eating meat. Her brain works fine, her body works fine, her nails, skin and hair are strong and growing.