Is A Vegetarian Diet Recommended For My Children?

By Kalynn Amadio

If you are a parent and vegetarian , you may have thought about putting your kids on a vegetarian diet. Not only would it save time and make planning meals easier, but for dietary and ethical reasons, you think it is a better lifestyle for your child.

Conversely, you might not be a vegetarian, but have a child who is going through a vegetarian “phase,” where she refuses to eat meat, but doesn’t eat enough healthy foods to compensate for the nutritional gap.

Whatever the reason, you are curious about whether or not a vegetarian diet is a maintainable, healthy choice for your children. You may have worried that placing your child on a vegetarian diet could potentially stunt her growth.

These concerns may have prevented you from choosing a vegetarian diet for your child up to this point.

These concerns all carry weight. In fact, if a vegetarian diet is poorly planned, it can cause severe long term health issues, most notably for children, who are developing and growing–and who don’t have sufficient stores of vitamins.

If you aren’t well prepared to put your children on a vegetarian diet, you definitely shouldn’t. But, if you have done your due diligence and you are familiar with the nutrients vegetarians commonly lack, then you know that these problems can simply be overcome with some meal planning.

You also know that putting your child on a vegetarian diet can greatly increase her health in both the long term. It can also reduce her exposure to animal products that contain hormones and preservatives, which have both been associated with developmental problems and cancer.

If you have not researched vegetarian diets thoroughly, but you are anxious to start your child on one now, please note that you should start by ensuring that you plan meals to boost amounts of certain nutrients (that many vegetarians lack):

1. Protein: Ensure your child is eating enough protein by adding more sources, such as soy beans, wheat, isolated soy protein, and nuts.

2. Calcium: See that your child is getting enough calcium by adding calcium-fortified foods and leafy green vegetables to her diet.

3. Iron: Infuse more iron to your family’s diet by increasing servings of pinto beans, soy beans, tofu, and cereals.

4. Zinc: Enhance your child’s zinc intake by increasing his servings of almonds, peanut butter, and mushrooms.

If you concentrate on compensating for all of these ordinary nutritional deficiencies, you certainly can put your kids on a vegetarian diet without the poor health consequences.

Just ignore the surrounding mythology of vegetarian diets and focus on meal-planning.

Before making a decision, check Kalynn Amadio’s informational site on living right through the martial arts at Taekwondo-Network , where you’ll find more great information on Vegetarian Diets.

Article kindly provided by UberArticles.com

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