Vegan diet to children, the expert’s opinion
Is it risky to administer a vegan diet to children? There is much debate around this question. And in the rampant trend toward a diet free of animal foods, many families are also choosing to feed their children in this way. Giuseppe Stefano Morino, head of the Department of Clinical Dietology at theBambino Gesù Children’s Hospital of Rome, spoke on the topic.
Code red diet
According to Professor Morino, the vegan diet is unsuitable for children, especially in the first 36 months of life. Interviewed by The Dissident Intellectual, the doctor reports pediatric emergency room admissions, with code red (maximum severity), of malnourished children as a result of a vegan diet.
“Vitamin b12 deficiency and iron deficiency, caused by a dietary style that completely subtracts foods of animal origin, can cause serious diseases. We know that iron stored in the early years of life serves to ward off the contraction of anemia in adulthood“, warns Morino, explaining that the iron assimilated by eating grains is not comparable to that taken in by eating meat.
European pediatricians’ paper
Of the same tenor is the position taken in January 2017 by ESPGHAN(European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition). On the imposition of a vegan diet on children, European pediatricians stated in a
paper
that such a dietary pattern should be used only under appropriate medical or dietary supervision, and that parents should understand the serious (if any) consequences.
