Vegetarian children as healthy as meat-eaters

Children who are vegetarian aren’t at any health disadvantage to meat-eaters—they’ll grow to be just as tall and be properly nourished.

The one area of concern is that vegetarian children are more likely to be underweight, and so carefully planning meals is essential, say researchers from St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

The researchers evaluated the diets and health of 8,907 children aged between six months and eight years and found that the vegetarians had similar body mass index (BMI), height and levels of iron, vitamin D and cholesterol as those eating meat.

But they were also twice as likely to be underweight—although no vegetarian child was overweight or obese.  This suggests the diet is not nutritionally rich enough to support normal growth, and parents need to take greater care in providing meals that give a growing child all it needs.

Vegetarian diets are “appropriate for most children”, the researchers conclude.

(Source: St Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health, Toronto)

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