Is a vegan diet safe for infants and children?
The American Dietetic Association position paper on the vegetarian diet states that a vegetarian diet can meet all amino acid requirements for growth. To be on the safe side, a vegan diet should be as well planned as any other diet. Because vegan diets are generally lower in fat than the Standard American Diet, parents must be sure that children are getting adequate amounts of fatty acids. Fatty acids are obtained by including in the diet nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocados, and full-fat soy milk. Like all vegans, infants and children should receive adequate vitamin B12. Meeting the daily need for B12 is especially important for vegan children because they do not have the stores of B12 to draw from that former non-vegans have. Babies should receive their mother’s milk for as long as possible and soya milk should be used for very young babies only if they can’t be breast fed for some reason.
