If you are a parent considering raising your child plant-based, consider the case of a 12-year-old girl raised on a strict vegan diet. The girl ended up in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, Scotland suffering from a severe form of rickets.
The girl had already experienced multiple fractures and been diagnosed with a degenerated spine comparable to that of an unhealthy 80-year-old woman.
Fast Food Diet Better for a Child than Veganism
Say what you will about a child who eats junk food, if the diet overall includes animal foods like eggs, meat and dairy…even if from fast food joints…this type of bone degeneration simply does not happen.
For all the downsides of The Standard American Diet, it is shockingly still a better choice than even a whole food vegan diet (aka “plant-based”) that is devoid of numerous critical nutrients a growing child’s body demands.
Pediatrician Discredits Veganism for Children
Media reports indicate that the hospital doctors were under pressure to report the girl’s parents to police and social workers.
Dr. Faisal Ahmed, a pediatrician treating the girl, warned that the dangers of forcing children to follow a strict vegan diet need to be publicized. (1)
If raised strictly vegan, the child would almost certainly have severe deficiencies of Vitamins A and D, both of which are essential bone nutrients that can only be obtained from animal foods.
For example, using aquafaba instead of eggs and plant-based meat substitutes can prove very dangerous.
In all likelihood, the child would also be lacking needed calcium, zinc (the intelligence mineral), B-12 as well as other B vitamins, Vitamin K2, the EPA and DHA fatty acids, and the sulfur containing amino acids methionine and cysteine.
Although the human body is theoretically capable of converting beta carotene from vegetables like carrots into true Vitamin A, children are not able to do so efficiently if at all.
Sunlight could have provided Vitamin D but only if the family spent a lot of time outdoors year-round in a tropical area. Northern climes like Scotland simply do not offer the benefit of Vitamin D-producing sunlight for much of the year.
Other Cases of Child Vegans Suffering Severe Nutritional Deficiencies
Sadly, this is not the first time vegans have been accused of child abuse though it may be the first case involving crippling bone damage. More typically, vegan babies end up in the hospital from malnutrition caused by the use of soy milk instead of infant formula.
Given soy milk alone, babies end up with severe vitamin, mineral, fatty acid, and amino acid deficiencies, which is why soy formula manufacturers are required by law to add methionine and other nutrients that are critical for a baby’s growth.
In 1990, the FDA investigated after a two month old girl in California was hospitalized with severe malnutrition. Her parents had fed her soy milk instead of soy formula. Because of this and a similar incident in Arkansas involving the SoyMoo brand of soy milk, the FDA issued a warning on June 13, 1990. Since then, most brands of soy milk include warning labels in tiny print on their packages.
Clearly, voluntary warning labels have not been enough, and there have been deaths as well as hospitalizations of vegan babies fed soy milk. Vegan parents in Atlanta were found guilty of the death of their six-month-old baby. To supplement the mother’s inadequate supply of breast milk the parents had fed their son soy milk and apple juice. The baby was only 3 1/2 pounds when he died of starvation. (3)
The sad truth is that numerous vegans have been charged and found guilty of unintentionally starving their children from all across the globe, including parents in Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Australia, and the United States among others. (4-10)
Vegan Breastfeeding Dangerous Too
In France, a vegan couple was sentenced to 5 years in prison for the death of their 11-month-old daughter. The baby, who was only 12.5 pounds at the time of her death, had been exclusively breastfed by a vegan mother.
An autopsy showed her to be not only severely underweight and malnourished but severely deficient in Vitamins A and B12. (2, 11-12)
The mother had cared enough to breastfeed, but had an inadequate supply of poor quality milk because of the severe nutritional limitations of her plant-based diet.
While veganism for very young children can be catastrophic, the tragic case of the 12-year-old Scottish girl illustrates that plant based diets for older children are also dangerous. Although finally getting medical treatment, the child’s long-term prognosis for recovery and a normal life remains grim.
Sadly, the word about the dangers of veganism for children doesn’t seem to be getting through to the general public. The continual barrage of highly flawed propaganda-ridden, documentaries such as What The Health guarantees that more well-intentioned but seriously misinformed vegan child malnourishment cases are likely to follow.
References
(1) Parents of 12-Year-Old Vegan Girl Who Has Degenerative Condition May Face Charges
(2) French Vegans Charged with Neglect After Baby’s Death from Nutritional Deficiencies
(3) Vegan Couple Serving Life Sentences for Starving Baby to Death
(4) Vegan Couple Who Fed Child Only Raw Fruit and Vegetables Charged with Murder
(5) Sydney vegan couple starved 20-month-old girl leaving her toothless and with rickets
(6) Baby Death: Parents Convicted of Killing Son with a Diet of Vegetable Milk
(7) Swedish Parents Jailed for Almost Starving Vegan Toddler to Death
(8) Strict vegan parents starved their baby of nutrients so badly that the one-year-old developed cerebral palsy and was in intensive care for a month with rashes and internal bleeding
(9) Italian baby raised on a vegan diet hospitalized for severe malnutrition, removed from parents
(10) Vegan couple will serve life sentences for starving baby to death, Georgia court rules
(11) French Couple Sentenced to 5 Years in Jail for Vegan Breastfeeding Death of 11 Month Old Baby
(12) Vegan Parents Face Jail
That is so. Sad. I’ve been vegan for a long time and I’ve had to learn and make great efforts to be safe and strong still- supplements, reading about nutrition and sharing and working with my MD bc she knows more than I do. Above all, I’ve made sure to give my body what it needs , no matter if its meat Or an apple. These parents not seeking out help,when babies are too skinny is the problem- lack of humility?
What about Gorillas? They eat a raw plant base diet. We share some of the same dna. Are they malnourished? Humans need to supplement because the quality of food is so poor and our habits are terrible.
Gorillas are related to humans, but the genetic differences are significant. We branched off from each other a very long time ago, and comparing their diet to ours does not work. They have a quite different digestive system. Look at a picture of a gorilla and you will notice the large, round belly which they have to have to house a digestive system designed for eating plant matter. Ours is not the same. Of course a plant diet can support very large animals such as elephants, but that doesn’t mean we are evolved to eat a vegan diet.
Gorillas will eat bugs and small animals also, and have been observed doing that. It is a myth that gorillas are pure vegans. The same goes for chimpanzees, bears and some other animals who are considered vegans.
Beats are classified as carnivores, although they are really omnivores who will eat meat whenever they can. Chimps will eat meat when they can, too–they kill and eat monkeys. But it really doesn’t work well to compare us to the great apes and other animals when it comes to diet. We have evolved away from the apes, diet-wise. Many experts feel that the only way we could grow and maintain our large brains was when we started eating meat as a staple food.
Agh. That should be “Bears” are classified . . .
This is such a tragedy. So many people trying or sort of trying to do a good thing but not doing a good job of learning good information. So much is dependent on training wisdom. And so many people are floundering in agendas and misinformation and the poor influences from every side. Unfortunately, most of us tend to think those who agree with our own thoughts in various areas are smart and we sabotage our ability to properly investigate and evaluate ideas. And with the current state of society being so full of absolutely false nutritional ideas and widespread acceptance of such very poor habits, etc… It’s not surprising that this things are happening, just ever so sad. I do what I can to discourage veganism while learning what I can from those few who appear to remain healthy and happy. 🙁
These stories you post attacking veganism make you look both foolish and slanted. I mean, how about i find a story about a meat eating child who just eats processed meats and foods with malnutrition and then blame your diet? whatever… maybe you’ll understand when you get heart disease.
We don’t eat processed meat. How about you learn what this site is about so you don’t look foolish!
Meat-eating doesn’t cause heart disease. Quite the opposite. And look! I even did the research for you!
http://www.sott.net/article/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease
Your body knows what it wants if you pay attention. Pay attention to your cravings.
As an adult eat what you like – follow whatever diet you like. As for our children, however, they need to eat EVERYTHING to grow and thrive. I personally don’t believe proscriptive diets are healthy for anyone (unless there is a real medical or allergy issue going on). We are omnivores. That’s how we were built.
Hmm, human physiology is fairly black and white. Just sayin’.
It’s not so black and white. I have friends that are raw vegan and their dentists say their teeth are the healthiest they have ever seen. A lot if could be due to GLUTEN and other things. Not just eating vegan. Some people don’t know how to balance their diets.
Did any news media follow up on this child and report on her recovery? That would be interesting to read.
I would like to add that if I noticed my child was lacking nutritionally, I would definitely pay attention to it. Evaluate everything. Not push a lifestyle. I try to be as in tune with my 2 year old as I can. I hope I can continue to do that as he grows and as we grow as individuals. After all, I want to push health overall not a specific lifestyle. Good day everyone!