Risks and benefits of vegan and vegetarian diets in children

In parallel with increased public awareness of the health and environmental benefits of consuming a plant-based diet, the numbers of people who identify as vegan has increased sharply. The question of whether vegetarian and vegan diets are appropriate for children is a longstanding and unresolved co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 2021-05, Vol.80 (2), p.159-164
Main Author: Kiely, Mairead E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bioavailability
Bone density
Calcium
Case histories
Children
Children & youth
Diet
Dietary fiber
Dietary supplements
Fatty acids
Food
Fractures
Iron
Malnutrition
Nutrient deficiency
Nutrients
Nutrition research
Nutrition Society Live 2020
Overweight
Pediatrics
Population
Public awareness
Riboflavin
Selenium
Symposium Three: Physiological determinants for protein requirements
Systematic review
Teenagers
Vegan
Veganism
Vegetarian diet
Vegetarianism
Vitamin B12
Vitamin D
Vitamins
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Summary:In parallel with increased public awareness of the health and environmental benefits of consuming a plant-based diet, the numbers of people who identify as vegan has increased sharply. The question of whether vegetarian and vegan diets are appropriate for children is a longstanding and unresolved controversy. The more restrictive the diet and the younger the child, the greater the risk of nutritional deficiency. Nutrients of potential concern are protein quantity and quality, iron, zinc, selenium, calcium, riboflavin, vitamins A, D, B12 and essential fatty acids. Although intakes and status of some nutrients (e.g. vitamin D and iron) are low in many children, vegan children are particularly susceptible due to inadequate supply and/or excess dietary fibre as well as other components that limit bioavailability. Although position papers from North America state that well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets, supplemented appropriately, are suitable for all life stages, European statements include strong recommendations to parents that vegan diets should not be adopted by children without medical and dietetic supervision. Case histories of malnutrition and serious harm persist, including irreversible neurological damage due to vitamin B12 deficiency among un-supplemented children. The evidence available to evaluate the nutritional appropriateness of vegetarian diets for children is inadequate and dated. Although nutritionally adequate vegetarian diets are more easily achieved, successful provision of a complete vegan diet for a young child requires substantial commitment, expert guidance, planning, resources and supplementation.
ISSN:0029-6651
1475-2719
DOI:10.1017/S002966512100001X