Little vegetarians not only develop normally, but are often healthier than the rest. When Alicja Żak-Karkoszka became pregnant for the first time eight years ago, her family and friends did not hide their fears. Alicja was already six years on a vegetarian diet and she did not intend to eat differently when she was pregnant. Moreover, she decided that her daughter Lenka would also not eat meat.
– At first, everyone warned that I would surely give birth to some strange, sick child – remembers Alicja. – When my daughter was born healthy and beautiful, they said that she would be underdeveloped and small. Only now, when all these visions did not come true and there is nothing to complain about, they let go.
Mankind has known vegetarianism for centuries. Analyzes of prehistoric Homo sapiens bones show that our ancestors did not eat much meat. The ancient Hindus and the Greeks followed a vegetarian diet of their own choice. Vegetarians were the mathematician Pythagoras and the historian Plutarch, who considered eating meat barbaric. Currently 42 percent. India’s populations are vegetarian, and in the United States, about one million children between the ages of 6 and 17 do not eat meat. In Poland, there are about 400 adult vegetarians and vegans (who, apart from meat, exclude animal products such as milk and eggs). Among children and adolescents, approx. 3 percent. is on a meatless diet, according to a study published in “Medycyna Wieku Rozwojowego”. Are they risking their health? Not necessarily.
Healthy, but not in Poland
The American Dietetic Association announced in 2009 that a well-planned vegetarian diet is appropriate for all stages of life, including pregnancy, infancy, childhood and adolescence. This also applies to a vegan diet. A similar opinion is expressed by the British NHS (the equivalent of the Polish NFZ) and the Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS). “In recent years, scientists have accumulated a lot of evidence that children on meatless diets grow as well and healthy as those who eat everything,” Dr. Minoli Amit, a spokeswoman for CPS and author of a study of vegetarian children, tells Newsweek.
In Poland, doctors are not favorable to vegetarian or vegan diets in children. They are guided by the official position on this matter, which was developed in 2002 by a team of experts led by prof. Anna Dobrzańska, national consultant in the field of paediatrics. It clearly states that vegetarian and vegan diets are not suitable for the youngest (details at http://pp.am.lodz.pl/kon.htm).
No wonder that in Poland it is difficult to find family doctors who would support parents who decide to nourish their children in this way. Sławek Kallas recalls that when his partner was pregnant, the family doctor lecture them about how irresponsible they were when they decided to make their child vegetarian. She said this while smoking a cigarette and exhaling the smoke straight into the face of the pregnant woman. When Alicja’s daughter Kaja caught a stomach flu and was hospitalized due to dehydration, her mother did not try to hide that she was a vegetarian. – The head physician humiliated me for the whole week in front of other patients. She claimed that I was abusing the child – says Alicja. – From now on, if it is not necessary, I do not bring up the topic of diet with the doctors, otherwise even a runny nose turns out to be the result of vegetarianism.
It must be admitted, however, that a lot of knowledge is needed to develop a vegetarian diet for the youngest. – In vegetarian environments where people support each other, exchange experiences and recipes, the risk of mineral deficiencies is low. It is worse when someone without any knowledge or experience starts vegetarianism as the first in the family. The worst thing is if he doesn’t want to learn about a proper diet. Then even minimal mistakes, repeated day after day, can accumulate into a large shortage – says Dr. Witold Klemarczyk from the Nutrition Department of the Institute of Mother and Child.
So what do you need to pay attention to? First of all, iron and vitamin B12, as their deficiencies can lead to anemia. Meat contains a form of iron that is easier to absorb by the human body – the so-called heme iron. Non-heme iron, which is found in large amounts in, for example, red beans, parsley, soybeans and chickpeas, is actually less absorbed. And that’s bad news for vegetarians. The good thing is that plant sources contain so much iron that even less absorbed iron is enough to ensure the daily requirement for this micronutrient also for children. It is only important to know where to look for non-heme iron. It is also worth adding something rich in vitamin C to a meal containing non-haem iron, because it facilitates its absorption, i.e. tomatoes with red beans, and after dinner with soy chops – oranges for dessert.
In addition to iron, the diet of “vegetarian” children must not lack vitamin B12. Vegans are particularly vulnerable to its deficiencies, because plants practically do not contain it at all. Fish, seafood or even beef liver abound in B12, and the products eaten by vegetarians: yoghurt, eggs and milk. B12 deficiencies can also result in anemia or impair a child’s neurological development. First symptoms: irritability, apathy, growth retardation, lack of appetite, infants show between 4 and 10 months of age. This applies even to newborns who are breastfed by vegan mothers who, if they do not supplement their diet with vitamin B12, will not have enough vitamin BXNUMX in their milk. Fortunately, there is a solution – consult a dietitian for supplementation with vitamin pills.
– However, the most common mistake I observe in the diets of “veg” children is insufficient supply of calcium. Parents often lack the knowledge of how to compose a dairy-free diet. It is possible, but you need to know what to replace milk and dairy products, says Małgorzata Desmond, nutritionist and nutrition medicine specialist from the Carolina Medical Center, which conducts research on vegan and vegetarian children at the Pediatrics Clinic of the Children’s Health Center.
It is difficult for Polish vegetarians and vegans to compose such diets, because we still do not have good guides that would give them recipes, suggesting that a good source of calcium is, for example, soy milk or calcium-enriched tofu. You cannot count on the Internet, because – you know – it has everything from the results of the latest research to complete nonsense. When Alicja gave birth to Kaja seven years ago, she had to blaze the trail on her own. “I was digging up everything I could about children’s vegetarian diets. These were mainly English-language sources, because at that time there was practically nothing on this subject in Poland, one book, and it was of average quality – he says. Even today, the best textbooks are in English. Małgorzata Desmond recommends Becoming Vegan and Becoming Vegetarian by Brenda Davis – both for all stages of life from childhood to adulthood.
Underdevelopment, rickets, anemia – it sounds scary. In fact, however, children on well-balanced meatless diets do not develop worse or get sick more often than their carnivorous counterparts. This was shown, for example, in a study published in 1988 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. For many years, scientists have been watching dozens of British children on a vegan diet. Most developed and grew normally. Similar conclusions were reached in 1999 by scientists from the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels, who examined Flemish children and adolescents on a vegetarian diet. They turned out to be as physically fit as the others. What’s more, a “veg” menu can have many health benefits. Children on such diets tend to have lower cholesterol than their peers because they eat more fruits and vegetables. A 1997 study of over 300 teenagers in Minnesota found that young vegetarians consumed fruit and vegetables twice as often as their carnivorous counterparts, but ate three times less sweets.
Also, veg children tend to be thinner than meat lovers, which is important in the current obesity epidemic. This advantage of vegetarians comes from the fact that from an early age they learn the basics of composing a diet and healthy eating habits. If they stay on a meat-free diet in adulthood, they will reduce the risk of developing diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers.
The Egg of Discord
However, parents of Polish vegetarian children have problems explaining to relatives and friends that their child can grow up healthily without chops. Sławek’s seven-year-old daughter, Milena (born vegan), admitted that she tried milk yoghurts for children. She got them from her grandmother behind her parents’ backs. – So we had a serious conversation with my grandparents. And it seems to me that since then they have realized how important it is to us – recalls Sławek. So that the daughter would not be sorry that she did not get ice cream, they started to make it at home – they mix strawberries, bananas, soy milk. Fortunately, in the Tri-City, where they live, a vegan ice cream shop, Gelati Giuseppe, has recently opened. Moreover, all family members – even those who eat meat and drink milk – enjoy vegan cakes. – If these things were not so tasty, they probably would not find out easily – laughs Sławek.
It is worse in schools and kindergartens. There are no vegetarian options, so both Sławek and Alicja used to carry their children lunch in thermos flasks to the canteen. Dagmara Miler, mother of four-year-old Nina, had to give up her daughter’s vegetarian diet. – In Warsaw’s Żoliborz there is such a problem with places in state kindergartens that I was glad when Ninka even got in. Since I was working, I was not able to deliver vegetarian meals to her and she had to eat what they served in kindergarten, says Dagmara. However, she intends to transfer Ninka to a kindergarten with a vegetarian diet, where she has been working as a nutrition specialist for several months (she graduated from Warsaw University of Life Sciences).
The question is whether a little vegetarian in kindergarten or school will not feel alienated or his friends will tease him? This is the concern of many parents of “veg” children, especially from smaller towns, who hear about cases of ridicule and ham sandwiches being stuck to them. – This is probably the only thing that really worried me – admits Alicja from Oświęcim. – There are practically no vegetarians in our city. But it turned out that the children in kindergarten, seeing my girls’ meals, were curious – they liked the colors and the fact that we make cutlets from vegetables. Now it happens that they pretend in front of my daughters that they also do not eat meat.
Not only without meat
Lacto-ovo-vegetarianism (colloquially vegetarian) – a meat-free diet, but allowing the eating of animal products, such as dairy or eggs
Veganism (also known as strict vegetarianism) – a diet that excludes not only meat, but also any products produced by animals, such as milk, eggs or honey
Pescetarianizm – A diet that excludes red meat (such as beef or pork) and poultry, but allows eating fish, seafood, dairy, and eggs
Vegetarian recipe – chickpea cutlets
Ingredients for four people:
1 packet of cooked chickpeas (400 g)
2 carrots
1 parsley or a quarter of medium celery
2 onions
4 garlic cloves
a bunch of parsley
wholemeal wheat flour to thicken, about 0,5 cups
salt
hot pepper
savory (there can also be other herbs)
Soak the chickpeas overnight. Cook on the next day (it takes about 1,5 hours). Cool, grind (you can also mash it like potatoes or mix it). Grate the carrots, parsley and onions on a grater or in a food processor. Mix with chickpeas, add flour, crushed garlic cloves, chopped parsley. Season with salt, paprika and herbs. Shape into balls, flatten them and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. The amount of flour sometimes turns out to be insufficient. You then have to use the eye method and add enough to make it easy to form balls. Serve the baked chops with rice, potatoes and groats. They are great with mushroom, tomato or dill sauce.