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Vegan children stunted
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- Lemon Half
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Vegan children stunted
Children raised on a vegan diet may have healthier hearts and less body fat than omnivores, but they grow up shorter and with weaker bones, a study has revealed.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/new-study-looks-at-the-dangers-of-a-vegan-diet-for-infants/5IMQTQHWQS3IU3S5BYDYZTGQPY/
The original paper eludes me, but this paper of 2008 echoes the reported findings https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/89/5/1627S/4596952 as regards benefits, as well as vitamin deficencies and potential bone problems.
Imv, it is questionable whether a diet that requires vitamin supplements can really be considered healthy.
And I certainly think that parents have no business imposing food fads on children as young as five.
Vegetarian perhaps... vegan, no.
V8 (omnivore)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/new-study-looks-at-the-dangers-of-a-vegan-diet-for-infants/5IMQTQHWQS3IU3S5BYDYZTGQPY/
The original paper eludes me, but this paper of 2008 echoes the reported findings https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/89/5/1627S/4596952 as regards benefits, as well as vitamin deficencies and potential bone problems.
Imv, it is questionable whether a diet that requires vitamin supplements can really be considered healthy.
And I certainly think that parents have no business imposing food fads on children as young as five.
Vegetarian perhaps... vegan, no.
V8 (omnivore)
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Vegan children stunted
Or could it be cause and effect are being confused?
Might it be that people of smaller stature are drawn to, or predisposed to adopting a vegan diet? Or more specifically, imposing it on their offspring?
Might it be that people of smaller stature are drawn to, or predisposed to adopting a vegan diet? Or more specifically, imposing it on their offspring?
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Vegan children stunted
I think this story has been knocking around since the seventies, when the vegan population was hardly there at all (and was frequently abstaining for religious reasons).
The crux of it, as far as I can be @rsed to remember, was that a vegan diet was short on nutrients that were essential to the development of children under four/six/ten/place your bets, but that it was safe enough for teenagers and adults.
BJ
The crux of it, as far as I can be @rsed to remember, was that a vegan diet was short on nutrients that were essential to the development of children under four/six/ten/place your bets, but that it was safe enough for teenagers and adults.
BJ
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- 2 Lemon pips
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Re: Vegan children stunted
Non vegan children more likely to be overweight is my takeaway - honestly do you have to go after anyone who has a different lifestyle and try and prove them wrong!
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Vegan children stunted
bungeejumper wrote:
I think this story has been knocking around since the seventies, when the vegan population was hardly there at all.
Was that the first sign that there was an issue?
Cheers,
Itsallaguess
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: Vegan children stunted
It is true that a poor diet in childhood “stunts” growth.
This knowledge has been around for hundreds of years, affecting whole nations. E.g the Chinese and Japanese have tended to small stature. However, within a couple of generations, émigrées from those countries to America tend to assume the stature of the indigenous population. Likewise, closer to home, before and into the 20th century the Welsh. The effect is most pronounced in utero, where the mother is undernourished, but while the size of the body is reduced, the brain is spared and underfeeding (unless extreme) does not lead to a reduction in intelligence. There are some fascinating studies of the effects of famines (e.g. the Dutch famine) showing that epigenetic “memories” of such events persist through the generations.
This knowledge has been around for hundreds of years, affecting whole nations. E.g the Chinese and Japanese have tended to small stature. However, within a couple of generations, émigrées from those countries to America tend to assume the stature of the indigenous population. Likewise, closer to home, before and into the 20th century the Welsh. The effect is most pronounced in utero, where the mother is undernourished, but while the size of the body is reduced, the brain is spared and underfeeding (unless extreme) does not lead to a reduction in intelligence. There are some fascinating studies of the effects of famines (e.g. the Dutch famine) showing that epigenetic “memories” of such events persist through the generations.
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: Vegan children stunted
Itsallaguess wrote:bungeejumper wrote:
I think this story has been knocking around since the seventies, when the vegan population was hardly there at all.
Was that the first sign that there was an issue?
Cheers,
Itsallaguess
Actually there has been "an issue" for lifetimes. It's just that the finger hasn't pointed at vegans. Anyone heard of rickets? Since WWII we have been fortifying white bread with vitamin D, yet the problem still exists. Currently the suggestion is that if you have a dark skin pigment in the UK you might be well advised to take additional supplements.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/heal ... 95686.html
(2018).There were 101,136 admissions last year where vitamin D deficiency was a primary or secondary factor in the admission, a rise of 34 per cent in a year, analysis of NHS Digital data shows.
It's FAR from unknown that a "standard" diet may lead to problems because that "standard" diet is lacking in something.
Here is another quote, from a group that argues for adding the supplements into everyone's food (fortifying), rather than expecting them to tayler the supplements to their diet or their condition.
[quote]Between 1900 and 1950 there were 3 million cases and 100,000 deaths from pellagra in the USA. This was because subsistence farmers in some southern states relied upon the so-called 3M (meat, maize and molasses) diet which was made up mainly of maize meal, pork fat and molasses.
https://drgeoffnutrition.wordpress.com/ ... on-policy/
Thiamine deficiency (beriberi) has been known for hundreds of years in areas with a rice based diet.
Iodine deficiency is another big diet problem worldwide.
Dare I suggest that those who actively think about their diet might be less prone to deficiencies?
FWIW I also am an omnivore though I was a vegetarian for a decade or so.
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Vegan children stunted
Urbandreamer wrote:Dare I suggest that those who actively think about their diet might be less prone to deficiencies?
Seems to be a safe bet that a lot of malnutrition is through ignorance (certainly in places where there isn't a deficiency of available variety of food)
Veganism might be the exception that proves the rule though
- it seems to be an extremely conscious choice
I don't doubt it's possible to eat healthily as a vegan but I do suspect that might be beyond the natural talents of kids
I honestly can't think of any vegetarians/vegans that I know who have made their kids comply.. and a few who have made sure their kids didn't abandon meat as youngsters (before their mid teens)
I suspect a lot of those who eat a more traditionally lacking diet might not care as much about what their kids consume
-sd
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Vegan children stunted
I heard a cracking comment a few years ago, said in all seriousness:
"I never realised Jim was a vegan, he doesn't look ill enough."
Lol!
"I never realised Jim was a vegan, he doesn't look ill enough."
Lol!
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- Lemon Quarter
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Re: Vegan children stunted
servodude wrote:I don't doubt it's possible to eat healthily as a vegan but I do suspect that might be beyond the natural talents of kids
-sd
As I understand it B12 is the issue with a vegan diet. You can buy supplements or you can learn to like Marmite (other brands are available).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite
Calcium and vitanine D are the important ones for bones. Almond, oat and soya milks are all good sources for these because they are fortified. Indeed they also often contain B12.
The study is quite interesting, though it has quite a small sample size and being based in Poland posibly wouldn't repeat in different countries.
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Vegan children stunted
Urbandreamer wrote:As I understand it B12 is the issue with a vegan diet. You can buy supplements or you can learn to like Marmite (other brands are available).
Just being mischievous, but are there really? I can't think of any!
(Vegemite does not contain B12 aiui.)
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Re: Vegan children stunted
Mike4 wrote:
Just being mischievous, but are there really? I can't think of any!
(Vegemite does not contain B12 aiui.)
It's apparently added to the low salt version.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegemite
Mighty, the Aldi alternative to Marmite has B12, though the label does say in big letters "with added vitamins".
Meridian yeast extract also has it added.
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Vegan children stunted
servodude wrote:I honestly can't think of any vegetarians/vegans that I know who have made their kids comply.. and a few who have made sure their kids didn't abandon meat as youngsters (before their mid teens)
Our neighbours are devout veggies (but not vegans). Their problem is that they don't like the taste of vegetables.
They raised their kids on chips and pizza - they couldn't interest them at all in eating anything green. One of them studied to be a dietician (and is now a senior adviser at a large hospital). Within a month of starting her course, she became a convinced omnivore. Funny, that.
BJ
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- Lemon Half
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Re: Vegan children stunted
Urbandreamer wrote:Mike4 wrote:
Just being mischievous, but are there really? I can't think of any!
(Vegemite does not contain B12 aiui.)
It's apparently added to the low salt version.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegemite
Mighty, the Aldi alternative to Marmite has B12, though the label does say in big letters "with added vitamins".
Meridian yeast extract also has it added.
Most vegans will know to add nutritional yeast to their food to supplement B12.
John
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