Are there any vegetarian parents out there? please help
Posted by wannabeveganarian on Oct 27, 2006 · Member since Sep 2006 · 25 posts
i just talked to my sister in law and told her that we are becoming vegetarians. She asked me if I knew that my daughter ( 3 years old) is supposed to have meat in order for her brain to fully develop. I then began to tell her that there are healthier alterntives and taht I have done research. Then she began to tell me of her family member who is vegearian and raised her kids that way, that her son is under developed because he didnt eat meat so the mom slowly introduced meat into his diet. I was kinda mad when she told me this and I didnt want to argue with her. Does anyone have this problem? Also, does anyone have any advice for converting a toddler to vegetarianism? Please help
It's a prevailing theory in physical anthropology that humans developed their big, smart brains in response to meat supply. To put it simply, a large brain requires a ton of protein to develop. The insect-and-fruit-and-leaves diet that is natural to our antecedents isn't protein-rich enough to have done the trick; thus, hunting preceded the big brain.
It works in individual people, too. Children need LOTS of protein while their brains develop. That's not to say that the protein needs to come from meat, but essentially, the more protein (and other nutritive things, like vitamins and minerals and calcium) they have access to, the better they'll develop.
Lots of people raise healthy and strong vegetarian and vegan children; I assume that they know what they're doing and that they offer lots of variety. One thing is certain: a well-thought-out diet rich in vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, and veggie sources of protein is definitely an improvement on a diet of Froot Loops, bacon, and Happy Meals.
As for converting a toddler... if it's YOUR toddler, I think simply offering a variety of the tasty foods of which you approve should do the trick. Toddlers are picky, but they don't inherently hate anything. My best friend's (smart, lovely, healthy, sparingly omni) toddler adores tofu simmered with nori, which isn't my idea of delicious-- but she will beg for it! Will the toddler miss the meat products? Maybe. I'd offer yummy things in child sizes, good for little fingers and filled with bright colors and creative presentations, and not worry about her missing the meat.
There has never, ever been a sister-in-law who hasn't offered infuriating child-rearing advice. Deep breath. She means well, and wants the best for your daughter... and has no idea how badly she's on your nerves.
Here's a story to make you laugh. My brother was born with clubbed feet and had to have casts on them when he was a baby to straighten them out. People-- perfect strangers!-- would come up to my mom and ask her, "What did you DO to that BABY?" I remember vividly that we were at the grocery store one day and someone came up and asked that, and my mom's face just went blank. She wrung up her features and turned to the woman, and said: "He was in his little pumpkin seat, and I had set it behind the wheel of the car-- and I forgot about him! Thank God it was only his little legs!"
I stared (I was 5 and impressionable). The woman stared. My mom gathered me up, and, laughing herself silly, continued shopping. She explained to me, "I don't have to explain myself to her, honey. I haven't doen anything wrong."
That was good! I hate people who think they know it all. I think instead of arguming with anyone over this. i will just print out the sources of info that i gathered along with my chart of my childs daily iron and protein intakes and see if they tell me she is lacking. I better include material from a doctor that describes the amount of iron and protein she shold be taking in as well. Maybe that will get them off of my backs. I dont like confrontation and im not quick witted enough to have a sacastic come back lol. Thanks for story
Good luck with your lifestyle shift. Being a vegetarian is an interesting and exciting journey that can take you to places you had never heard of before! Please read "Raising Vegan Children in a Non-Vegan World: A Complete Guide for Parents" by Erin Pavlina. She is also the editor for vegfamily magazine. Check out the web site at http://www.vegfamily.com
I can not stress enough how important education can be! As a life long vegetarian I can tell you it does get easier as time goes on. Your child will not be missing out on anything as some critics may argue, but will have many more opportunities as you will find.
May I also recommend the book "vegan freak" (website: http://www.veganfreak.com) and a movie called "Peaceable Kingdom" that I believe ALL people should watch, especially those who are unaware of the "meat" industry and factory farming. They also have a web site to get the movie: http://www.tribeofheart.org/pk.htm
Hope these resources help. :D
I have a daughter who is 11 and a son who is 9. They are both vegans. I hate to brag, but I have to for the purposes of this post, I suppose. They have both been identified as gifted and have IQ's in the "genius" range. My son excels in baseball, football, basketball, tennis, soccer, golf, and the academic team. My daughter excels in tennis, art, playing the saxophone, and the academic team. In fact, she won the regional (highest competition for her age group) individual testing competition last year. Both kids read for fun and are exceptionally creative. They are very tall for their ages - 5'4" and 4'11" respectively. They are very rarely sick, and any illnesses that they do pick up are gone very quickly. On top of that, they are compassionate and thinking individuals. I couldn't ask for anything to be better with them.
I would never have played a game of chance with my children. I researched it all very thoroughly, and I continue to do so. I am convinced that raising them as vegans is the absolutely best thing to do. People will always have something to say about whatever you do if you stand for anything at all. You just have to be stronger than the temptation to cave in when someone insists that you make your choices their way.
Best of luck to you.
I was raised vegetarian. I have eaten chicken 3 times, by accident, over the course of my life. (I'm 23.) I'm ovo-lacto vegetarian, and aside from the chicken, I have never put any known meat/seafood of any kind into my system.
I'm alive. I'm extremely healthy. I graduated from college cum laude. My brain seems to be working okay. My brother, also raised veggie, graduated from an Ivy League college with a Bachelor's in 3 years and is currently working on his Ph.D. in engineering. His brain is definitely working okay. I don't mean any of this in an obnoxious way - I'm just saying, two veggie kids, born and raised, with completely intact brains.
I have several friends my age who have been raised vegetarian - one raised totally vegan - and they're all fine. I also personally know and have worked (I'm a preschool teacher) with many children who are being raised vegetarian. I've never seen any real difference in them in terms of being undernourished, not developing properly, or having brain issues.
Whole cultures are vegetarian. Look at the Jains. Families have been vegetarian for generations upon generations, like mine. My great-grandmother's great-grandmother was raised vegetarian. Anyway, you see where I'm going with this. Millions of people the world around have been raised vegetarian, and we're all doing pretty great. Go you for making the switch despite what others around you say, and for trying to stay as informed as possible!
I can’t believe that even if eating a veg*n diet does affect brain development that the difference would be so notable.
More likely, eating veg*n diets makes an infinitesimal difference to intellectual development either way.
Wow! I got such great feedback on this post. This post alone, gave me the confidence I needed. I think instead of arguing with anyone over my believes, I'm going to just let them see for themselves how my Daughter progresses. Everyone here seems very bright and intellegent, more so than me. I never doubted the vetegarian diet or the vegan diet, and I never will!
My son, turned 2 yesterday, sees 2 nutritionists, along with his regular doctor. They all know about his dairy and egg allergy and that he doesn't eat meat (making his diet de facto vegan). He was just at an appt Wednesday, he is 38 inches tall and 40 pounds, (in other words HUGE, the size of a 4 year old, not undernourished in ANY way.) None of the docs are veg (that I know of) and all approve of his diet and have never voiced a concern. We live in a very, UN-veg, UN-liberal, community. I would think if anyone were trying to change us to "the way of meat" it'd be here. Yet, it certainly isn't coming from his doctors.
I breastfed him until he was 15 months. It's common to hear about how children under 2 need cholesterol (I've never heard protein maybe that's where the meat thing comes in?) for a layer of fat to develop around their brains. (That is why whole cow's milk is given to young children and not skim milk) BUT it used to be thought that they needed whole milk until age 5, now just age 2... obviously common thought changes often...
Anyway my point is if people continued to breastfeed past the US's "recommended amount of time" (which is 1 year... in the rest of the world it's age 2) they wouldn't have to face that issue at all. My son was actually too big to breastfeed comfortably any longer and we switched him to a soy formula. With my next child my 'goal' will be 2 years. You do have to be sure you child gets not only adequate protein but all the other good things as well ;) (if you're keeping charts I'm sure you're good on that!) It really bugs me that because we're veg*n we're under a microscope, and the kidsnextdoor who get Twinkies and hot dogs with mac n' cheese aren't because that is considered "normal"
If you are at all worried about your daughter's nutrition I'd say go to a doctor who specializes in veg stuff BUT also see a doctor who doesn't that way you get 2 opinions.
Do you feel your daughter is lacking nutritionally in any areas? I'm actually trying to get my son off these processed veg foods right now but, he LOVES boca's vegan patties and morning star chicken nuggets those and any veggies (other than green beans *gasp* "no! mommy no!") are basically his staples.... and being a toddler i roll my eyes and think this is a horrible way to eat... but remind myself that he is MUCH better off than the Oreo-eating, Twinkies-toting, fast-food french fry crowd. And yes toddlers eat that crap, can you believe it?
Hi, I have one boy and two girls, ages 6, 4 and 1. I completely understand the protein angst and it was something I researched extensively when my oldest was born. I have to confess I never heard the part about meat being necessary for good brain development, and I consider myself fairly well read on these matters. (Did you know Dr. Spock was a huge proponent of a vegetarian--vegan, actually--diet for children? It's all over Your Baby & Child.) I never found it particularly comforting when people just advised veg*n parents to relax and assume their kids were getting enough protein. What worked for me was to figure out what the RDA requirements were for protein for my kids and then look at what they were eating and determine if it was enough. With two to three glasses/bottles of fortified soymilk a day, they were getting more than enough. And I always used it to stop people in their tracks when they offered their criticisms-disguised-as-questions by beginning my answer with "Well, you know the RDA for protein in this age . . . " Often I could just stop there because a confused look would cross the questioners' faces that clearly indicated to me they had no idea of what the RDA for protein was for my children or, for that matter, their children.
As for converting your three year old, I think that it is really hard to make sure that any three year old, let alone a veg*n one, has a nutritionally sound, balanced diet. When my kids were babies they ate everything I put in front of them, as my little one does now. Then when the two older ones became two and a half or so, they entered the "dark period" where they refused to eat most healthy foods. Broccoli, once beloved, was out. I could go on and on. My son emerged from this stage when he was about five and is now making acceptable progress in broadening his food choices. My four year old, however, still hates most fruits and vegetables (strawberries, cantaloupe, cherries NO NO NO), but there are a couple of things she will eat and so that is what she gets. All of them continue to drink one or two glasses of fortified soymilk a day. They like simple food. Edamame, simple pan fried tofu or seitan, bowls of rice (any kind, brown or white), avocado, yogurt (we're l/o and I give them whole milk yogurt), green peas, plain unadorned well cooked chickpeas or black-eyed peas, cooked carrots, red pepper strips. Yet, if I make fried rice with rice, tofu and peas, it will not be touched.
I plan out the following week's dinners in advance, and then I decide separately what they're going to have for lunch so there is not too much overlap. My husband can't eat dairy so our dinners are usually dairy free. I also try to keep an eye on the amount of processed foods we eat--the chik nuggets, tofurkey, etc. It's very easy to eat perhaps to much of those things, especially during hectic weeks. Unfortunately, the only way I've found to get around this is to cook a lot of stuff ourselves.
And find the ABC lentils recipe on the web. It's not on this site--I think it might be on the passion for pulses site. I initially pulled it off of a website for preschool directors--it had nothing to do with veg*nism. Anyway, I've been making it for my kids for years and they enjoy it.