What are your opinions on bringing a child up vegan?

[EternalRose]

but meat and dairy doesn't make people overweight? huge quantities may do but in proportion its perfectly healthy?

You would need to eat very very small quantities for it not to have an effect on your weight unfortunately. Saying that, there are people that are thin and eat junk food all the time. But they are an exception to the rule.

 

[Blah11]

dairy doesnt make me as fat as carbs do seriously I can eat a huge bar of chocolate and not gain weight but if I eat half a loaf I gain a lb or 2.

 

[smokey]

until she is old enough to make her own mind up, I think its fine to feed her as a vegan (as long as she's getting everything she needs which I am sure she is)

wait for the rebellious teen years tho, she will be wanting Big Macs left right and centre

Sorry this made me laugh as most teens rebelious phase is to be a vegetarian
No matter how you bring your children up most will go through a phase of wanting to be the exact oppesite of what you brought them up like, for example im fully expecting my boys rebelious phase to be fashion lables, pop music and just being like saffie out of absolutly fabulas, basicly everything his parents are not

 

[EternalRose]

The reason I say that is because they are giving the animals a lot of growth hormones now, which is causing more and more children to have early onset puberty as well as weight issues. It also takes 10lbs of milk to make one 1lb of cheese. There is a reason, why those chickens look so big in Sainsburys. The farmers ensure that the chickens get big, we look for the biggest chicken in Sainsburys to buy = ensured revenue for the farmer. The impact this has on our health is of no importance to the farmer or Sainsburys, its about making money.

 

[smokey]

I normay believe in bringing a child up in the same way the rest of the household live but my concern with this one is could restricting a young child range of food cause them problems in later life?
If they decided they didnt want to be a vegan or vegetarian when they are say 13 but have never had any of these products in their life couldnt that cause bowle, digestion, allergy problems if they have never been exposed to it in younger years and their systems are not used to it.
Im curious if that is possible as I have no experiance of it but I think that would always be playing in the back of my mind that I may be causing more harm then good.

 

[maaybe2010]

As long as the child gets all the 'good stuff' they need

Although if they chose different for themselves when they're old enough too then that should be ok with the parent/gaurdians

x x x

 

[Blah11]

i know this isnt the same but my mums dog just eats chicken and some dried dog food. once she ran out of chicken so she gave him ham and he couldnt digest it properly. he had vommitting and the runs I assume humans would be the same?

 

[Tiff]

dairy doesnt make me as fat as carbs do seriously I can eat a huge bar of chocolate and not gain weight but if I eat half a loaf I gain a lb or 2.

Ditto. Sometimes I feel like I'm gaining weight if I even LOOK at a potato or a slice of bread.

 

[EternalRose]

I normay believe in bringing a child up in the same way the rest of the household live but my concern with this one is could restricting a young child range of food cause them problems in later life?
If they decided they didnt want to be a vegan or vegetarian when they are say 13 but have never had any of these products in their life couldnt that cause bowle, digestion, allergy problems if they have never been exposed to it in younger years and their systems are not used to it.
Im curious if that is possible as I have no experiance of it but I think that would always be playing in the back of my mind that I may be causing more harm then good.

Good question, to be honest from what I have read eating dairy products and meat is what causes allergy, and digestion problems most of the time anyway. I did find out a shocking statistic though, 90-95% of black people have a form of lactose intolerance. Why that is, has not been found out. I am black, but Abigail is mixed race. So I dont know what that means from a genetic standpoint.

 

[EternalRose]

i know this isnt the same but my mums dog just eats chicken and some dried dog food. once she ran out of chicken so she gave him ham and he couldnt digest it properly. he had vommitting and the runs I assume humans would be the same?

Maybe it was LIDL ham, and your mums dog only likes Sainsburys ham.

 

[Blah11]

we had an interesting convo on a BF thread about n ot giving our los cows milk. we discussed how a lot of humans cant break down lactose. its cos they lack the enzymes to break it down.

 

[sequeena]

i know this isnt the same but my mums dog just eats chicken and some dried dog food. once she ran out of chicken so she gave him ham and he couldnt digest it properly. he had vommitting and the runs I assume humans would be the same?

It's the salt content in the ham that does that usually

A lot of dogs are actually intolerant to chicken.

 

[Blah11]

oh really? he eats it like twice a day. Not garlic chicken though, that also gives him the runs anything cept plain chicken and dried dog food makes him sick. pathetic dog or what!

 

[blahblahblah]

The reason I say that is because they are giving the animals a lot of growth hormones now, which is causing more and more children to have early onset puberty as well as weight issues. It also takes 10lbs of milk to make one 1lb of cheese. There is a reason, why those chickens look so big in Sainsburys. The farmers ensure that the chickens get big, we look for the biggest chicken in Sainsburys to buy = ensured revenue for the farmer. The impact this has on our health is of no importance to the farmer or Sainsburys, its about making money.

They aren't allowed to use growth hormones in the UK - you can avoid hormones and still eat meat if you simply buy British. The reason the chickens look so big in sainsburys is because some are injected with water! Again, this can be avoided by choosing carefully, or buying from local butchers which usually have full traceability.

I personally think that a vegan diet is very extreme for a small child. I can understand them being vegetarian in the main if meat is not the norm in the household, but every food has a possible risk to it - I'd be far more concerned about the hormone/GM risks in soya than anything in UK cows milk.

I also share the opinion that has already mentioned about offering a wide variety of foods whilst they are small. I would worry about LO becoming a fussy eater, rebelling, or just having trouble fitting in when older because of it. As a meat-eating parent I would think twice about inviting a vegan child over for tea, as I wouldn't have a clue what to give them!

 

[smokey]

oh really? he eats it like twice a day. Not garlic chicken though, that also gives him the runs anything cept plain chicken and dried dog food makes him sick. pathetic dog or what!

There could be a point to that, my cat was always brough up on just dried food but he went to stay at my cousins for a while and they fed him cat meat and he threw it up everywhere.
He has a mixture of both now because he got a taste for it in the end.
The dog I had when I was younger was brought up to eat anything, left over scraps made up her dinner along with her dog food and she never once ever had a problem of being sick or having the runs, may just be a coincident or just might have had a strong stomach but MIL dog if he has anything different from his normal dried food he is as sick as anything ( he steals from the bin and the table)
My dad always had the saying of if you bring a dog up to eat anything it wil never go hungery and that was just how we always did with most of them apart from the last dog because she had to have a strict diet because of kidney problems.

 

[EternalRose]

The reason I say that is because they are giving the animals a lot of growth hormones now, which is causing more and more children to have early onset puberty as well as weight issues. It also takes 10lbs of milk to make one 1lb of cheese. There is a reason, why those chickens look so big in Sainsburys. The farmers ensure that the chickens get big, we look for the biggest chicken in Sainsburys to buy = ensured revenue for the farmer. The impact this has on our health is of no importance to the farmer or Sainsburys, its about making money.

They aren't allowed to use growth hormones in the UK - you can avoid hormones and still eat meat if you simply buy British. The reason the chickens look so big in sainsburys is because some are injected with water! Again, this can be avoided by choosing carefully, or buying from local butchers which usually have full traceability.

I personally think that a vegan diet is very extreme for a small child. I can understand them being vegetarian in the main if meat is not the norm in the household, but every food has a possible risk to it - I'd be far more concerned about the hormone/GM risks in soya than anything in UK cows milk.

I also share the opinion that has already mentioned about offering a wide variety of foods whilst they are small. I would worry about LO becoming a fussy eater, rebelling, or just having trouble fitting in when older because of it. As a meat-eating parent I would think twice about inviting a vegan child over for tea, as I wouldn't have a clue what to give them!

Thanks for this, maybe what I was reading was more relevant to the US. However, you can never be sure that the meat your eating is free from disease. Look at the conditions, they live in. I have watched recent footage with my own eyes of chickens that collapsed under their own weight due to how unnaturally big they are. Why is that? I am not sure if this is the same for organic, but how many people REALLY buy organic nowadays? Butchers are also dying out now anyway because of the supermarkets. However, like I said in a previous post I wouldnt trust the FDA as far as you could throw them. Corrupt as you like.

As for fitting in, children will find anything they could use, as a *target* so to speak. Be it the way a child walks, or the way a child speaks. If a meat-eating parent wouldnt want to invite my daughter over for tea, that would be fine. Id still make sure there was meat options in my house, when Abigail has her friends over.

ETA: All foods may have a possible risk, but I dont know of anyone that has suffered from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, by having a plant based diet only. There is overwhelming evidence that states that eating plant based foods can reverse late stage cancer, and late stage heart disease. I am talking angioplasty, late.

 

[fantastica]

Sorry not read the whole thread but decided to jump in anyway

I was vegan for 6 years but am now just a veggie...if I had had a child whilst vegan there is no doubt that that baby would've also been a vegan (Jacob is vegetarian - but he doesn't drink cow's milk or anything...it's only small amounts of cheese and egg really).

Definitely believe that veganism is the most natural and healthy thing you can do, so there would be no problem in raising a child vegan...but because of the way in which food is grown now, you would definitely need to make sure she was getting the right vitamins!

I have a book called 'Rasing your vagan infant with confidence - by Sandra Hood' maybe see if you can get hold of it? It had a lot of info. in it...although the down side was no recipes etc. which is what I was looking for! x

 

[fantastica]

To the poster above (and the many many people who used to ask me haha) look up the poem by Benjamin Zephaniah...think it's called 'Vegan Delight'...that will tell you the varied diet which vegans eat (can't link it - way too long!) x

 

[sequeena]

oh really? he eats it like twice a day. Not garlic chicken though, that also gives him the runs anything cept plain chicken and dried dog food makes him sick. pathetic dog or what!

Yep! My shepherd is extremely intolerant of it (the runs, sickness etc) and can only eat lamb based foods or fish based foods. I've not tried her on turkey, don't want to risk it as it's poultry.

But ham is quite high in salt as it's been cured so yup that's probably what caused the reaction xxx

 

[EternalRose]

Sorry not read the whole thread but decided to jump in anyway

I was vegan for 6 years but am now just a veggie...if I had had a child whilst vegan there is no doubt that that baby would've also been a vegan (Jacob is vegetarian - but he doesn't drink cow's milk or anything...it's only small amounts of cheese and egg really).

Definitely believe that veganism is the most natural and healthy thing you can do, so there would be no problem in raising a child vegan...but because of the way in which food is grown now, you would definitely need to make sure she was getting the right vitamins!

I have a book called 'Rasing your vagan infant with confidence - by Sandra Hood' maybe see if you can get hold of it? It had a lot of info. in it...although the down side was no recipes etc. which is what I was looking for! x

Thanks hun, I have been looking for a good vegan book for children. I will get that