Yes you can raise children vegan.
Useful and RELIABLE resource
The purpose here is to select and recommend the most pertinent, useful and, most importantly, sound and reliable science based advice when it comes to raising animal friendly children following a plant based diet.
Of course, it is not meant to replace regular check ups as advised by one’s local health authorities and if you are concerned about something, consulting a registered health professional is always the way to go. Note that naturopaths and homeopaths are NOT registered health professionals.
Below you will find:
1/ A list of links to science based advice on vegan diets for children of all ages;
2/ A list of educational resources;
3/ The most important thing you need to know, and do;
4/ Meal ideas and recipes;
5/ A list of various articles and opinion pieces on raising vegan children.
1/ Science based advice on vegan diets for children of all ages
The Vegan RD website is a great source of reasonable advice:
Vegan Health is another very good site:
The official National Health Service in England has a reliable page on this and perhaps your local health services do too:
“Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence.”
Australian pages:
And the excellent new Canadian Dietary Guidelines which have been updated very recently:
From The Vegan Society:
An interesting publication on the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, from 2010:
“ Well-planned vegetarian and vegan diets with appropriate attention to specific nutrient components can provide a healthy alternative lifestyle at all stages of fetal, infant, child and adolescent growth. Appropriate education of the family and follow-up over time are essential.”
Please do take B12 seriously — read the above. There is no plant based source of b12. We must supplement and/or eat enough b12 enriched food.
2/ Educational resources
3/ The most important thing you need to know, and do
On-time vaccination offers the best protection for your child.
As the Vegan Society themselves put it: Vegans avoid using animals ‘as far as is practicable and possible’. This definition recognises that it is not always possible to make a choice that avoids the use of animals. Sometimes, you may have no alternative to taking prescribed medication. Looking after yourself and other people enables you to be an effective advocate for veganism.
4/ Meal ideas and recipes
WhyVeg.com | Vegetarian Recipes | Recipe List
Delicious, easy-to-follow vegetarian recipes.
whyveg.com
5/ Articles and opinion pieces on raising vegan children
The above article is pertinent but I do not endorse nor recommend One Green Planet as I have not found them to be reliable when it comes to scientific matters.
Post Scriptum:
Footnote: I am not including anything from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). They do produce useful material as well, yet I have found that they tend to cherry pick anything which comforts their ideological bias and it is not what I want to see in an organisation with a name like this.
