Does a vegan diet provide adequate nutrition for growing children?

Childhood and Adolescence - Questions and Answers ABOUT FOODS AND CANCER PREVENTION AND SURVIVAL

QUESTION: Does a vegan diet provide adequate nutrition for growing children?

ANSWER: Yes. It is important to remember that eating habits are set in early
childhood. Choosing a vegetarian diet can give your child—and your whole
family—the opportunity to learn to enjoy a variety of nutritious foods.
Children raised on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes grow up
slimmer and healthier, and they live longer than their meat-eating friends. It
is, in fact, much easier to build a nutritious diet from plant foods than from
animal products, which contain saturated fat, cholesterol, and other substances
that growing children can do without. As for essential nutrients,
plant foods are the preferred source for children’s diets, because they provide
sufficient energy and protein packaged with other health-promoting
nutrients, such as fiber, antioxidant vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.

Naturally, children need protein to grow, but they do not need highprotein,
animal-based foods. A varied menu of grains, beans, vegetables,
and fruits supplies plenty of protein. The “protein deficiencies” that our
parents worried about in impoverished countries were the result of starvation
or diets restricted to very few food items. Protein deficiency is
extremely unlikely on a diet drawn from a variety of plant foods.

Very young children may need a slightly higher fat intake than adults
do. In moderation, healthful fat sources include soybean products, avocados,
and nut butters. Soy dogs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,
seasoned veggie burgers, and avocado chunks in salads, for example, are
very well accepted by children. However, the need for fat in the diet should
not be taken too far. American children often have fatty streaks in their
arteries—the beginnings of heart disease—before they finish high school. In
contrast, Japanese children, who traditionally grow up on diets much lower
in fat, subsequently have fewer problems with diabetes, heart disease, obesity,
and other chronic diseases.

Parents will want to make sure their child’s diet includes a regular
source of vitamin B12, which is needed for healthy blood and nerve function.
Deficiencies are rare, but when they happen, they can be a bit hard to
detect. Vitamin B12 is plentiful in many commercial cereals, fortified rice
milk and soymilk, and some brands of nutritional yeast. Check the labels
for the words “cyanocobalamin” or “B12.” It is strongly advisable for all
children to take a daily multiple vitamin; it will provide adequate B12. An
alternative is to take a B12 supplement of 5 micrograms or more per day.
Spirulina and sea vegetables are not reliable sources of vitamin B12.
The body also requires vitamin D, which is normally produced by sun
on the skin. Exposing the hands and face to sunlight for fifteen to twenty
minutes daily is usually enough for the body’s skin cells to produce the necessary
vitamin D. Children in latitudes with diminished sunlight may need the
vitamin D found in multivitamin supplements or fortified nondairy milks.
Calcium is also an essential nutrient. Good calcium sources include
beans and green vegetables, such as bok choy, broccoli, collard greens, kale,
and mustard greens, and as well as dried figs and sweet potatoes. Fortified
soymilk, rice milk, almond milk, or oat milk and calcium-fortified juices
provide a great deal of calcium as well. In addition, eating lots of fruits and
vegetables, excluding animal proteins, and limiting salt intake all help the
body retain calcium.
Growing children also need iron, which is found in a variety of beans
and green leafy vegetables. The vitamin C in vegetables and fruits enhances
iron absorption when these foods are eaten along with an iron-rich food.
One example is an iron-rich bean burrito eaten with vitamin C–rich tomato
salsa. Few people are aware that cow’s milk is very low in iron. It also
reduces iron absorption and can induce mild, chronic blood loss in the digestive
tract, which can reduce iron and cause an increased risk of anemia.

QUESTION: How important is nutrition for young girls in families with a history of breast cancer?

ANSWER: The foods girls eat while in preschool and grade school appear to
have an important effect on breast cancer risk later in life. Researchers at
Harvard University discovered that girls who eat more protein from animal
sources and less protein from plant sources tend to reach menarche earlier.9
Younger age at first menstruation is connected with increased risk of breast
cancer later in life.10 In addition, diet during puberty—while breast tissue
is forming—also seems to have a significant influence on breast cancer risk
in adulthood. Plant-based diets right from the start not only establish lifelong
smart eating habits, but also appear to be helpful in reducing breast
cancer risk.