More and more people choose oneVegan diet. But is the vegetable diet really suitable for children? Researchers from Poland have found that children who feed vegan are smaller than their peers on average. Compared to children who also eat meat and fish, they also have a lower bone density.
The researchers examined a total of 187 healthy children between the ages of five and ten. 63 of the children were vegetarian and 72 vegan fed. The other 72 children also ate meat and fish. As part of two years, the researchers measured and compared various parameters. Including the children's size, cardiovascular risk and the supply of micronutrients.
The doctors of the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health in Poland found that children who fed Vegan were 3 cm smaller than their peers in the control group. Furthermore, the study showed that the children who had vegan had 25 % less lipoproteins (cholesterol) and a low body fat share. For this, however, the vegan subjects had up to 6 % lower bone density and had a three -time risk of B12 deficiency.
Vegetarian vs. vegan diet in children
DieChildren who eat healthywere better supplied with micronutrients, but had more cardiovascular problems. This result surprised the researchers, but they soon found that the vegetarian diet included more processed food than the vegan diet.
A vegetable nutrition itself is not a guarantee of good health. The quality of the food depends. In addition, the director of study Dr. Desmond expressly that children and adults who only feed vegan need nutritional supplements. Such are, for example, vitamin B12 and vitamin D. Dr. Desmond pointed out that the parents should be advised before they choose a vegan diet for their children.
