Veggie health for kids
Animal Products Promote Disease
Meat and
dairy products promote disease. They are
high fat foods, a primary source of unhealthy (and inessential) saturated fats and
cholesterol, contain no fibre, no complex (starchy)
carbohydrate, none of the primary
antioxidant (disease-busting) vitamins - C, E, and beta-carotene (the antioxidant form of vitamin A) and no vitamins E or K.
Vegetarian Diets Promote Good Health
Balanced vegetarian diets on the other hand protect health. Fresh fruits, vegetables, wholegrain cereals, nuts, seeds and vegetable protein sources such as
soya (including fortified soya milks), beans and lentils provide all the nutrients eg. vitamins, minerals, protein, fibre, starchy carbohydrate and essential fats the body needs without the harmful saturated fat and
cholesterol that animal products provide. Nutritional myths abound when vegetarian diets are discussed but a look at the science behind the claims shows that these are just that - myths to be dismissed! Take iron - a mineral that is found in many foods such as beans, wholegrains and dried fruit and whose absorption is increased when ta en with vitamin C. Both the British Medical Association and the American Dietetic Association clearly state that iron deficiency anaemia is no more common in vegetarians than meat-eaters (1,2). Every leading health advisory body is saying the same thing - Western societies need to get away from eating animal products and turn to
plant foods to ensure good health. There is no one element or ‘magic bullet’ in a meat-free diet - it is the totality of a
vegetarian diet that is the secret of vibrant lifelong health.
What Are Children Eating?
Rubbish apparently. A Government survey published in June 2000 on the diet and nutrition of 4 to18 year-olds found that roughly 80% of children are guzzling away on white bread, savoury snacks, biscuits, chips and chocolate confectionery. Roughly 60-75% had not eaten any citrus fruits or leafy green vegetables in the week of the survey (3). Children are eating a diet low in many of the vital health-promoting
vitamins and
minerals needed to help combat disease and a diet high in disease-promoting foods such as high fat, high salt and high sugar convenience-type foods. Meat and dairy products are still firmly placed at the centre of most meals.
The Right Start in Life for children
Diets based on
animal products are quite simply leaving children unprotected in the health stakes. Encouraging children to adopt healthy eating practices from a very early age will mean that they will grow up choosing foods that will promote their good health not promote their ill health. Study after study proves that not only are vegetarian diets perfectly safe but have significant advantages over meat-based diets. Recent research comparing omnivore and vegetarian children found that vegetarian children had lower intakes of total and saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and higher intakes of beneficial antioxidant (disease-busting) nutrients such as
beta-carotene (the antioxidant form of
vitamin A), vitamins C and E (4).
How Animal Products Affect Children
Allergies and Food Intolerances
Food intolerances to cow’s milk are increasingly common in both children and adults alike. Many children display an intolerance to the protein in
cow’s milk (casein) with symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting being an indication of a problem (5). Whole cow’s milk is also a cause of milk-induced
gastrointestinal blood loss which may contribute to the development of iron deficiency anaemia (6). Cow’s milk is also being investigated as a possible cause of Cot death (7). The advice to parents now is that whole cow’s milk should not be given during the first year of a baby's life (8). Children and adults can also be intolerant to the sugar
(lactose) found in cow’s milk. Contrary to what the dairy industry would have us believe lactose intolerance is actually the norm for human populations - testified by the fact that some 75% of the world’s population can’t digest lactose! (9). The enzyme required to break down milk sugar (lactase) is only required up to weaning - after this time there is no biological requirement to drink milk and certainly not the milk of another species!
Cancer
Over a third of
cancer deaths - and possibly many more - may be linked to diet. Getting the diet right at the very outset of life is crucial in minimizing the chances of developing this disease.
Vegetarians are at a reduced risk for some
cancers and there are a number of reasons for this. A diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables is now recognised as being one of the most important ways to help ward off cancer and of course these foods are typically abundant in good plant-based diets (11). Plant foods contain high levels of antioxidants - disease-fighting vitamins such as vitamins A, E and beta-carotene as well as fibre. Breast, prostate and colon cancer are all linked to the consumption of animal products such as dairy foods and meat (12, 13, 14). Eating high amounts of red meat (particularly processed red meat) eg. beef, veal, pork and lamb, is known to be associated with a 20-40% increase in colorectal cancer risk
Diabetes
Diabetes is a group of disorders all leading to rises in blood glucose (sugar) levels due to the inaction of
insulin - a hormone that takes
glucose out of the bloodstream and into body cells. There is increasing evidence from a number of studies to show that early exposure to cow’s milk may be a trigger for
type I diabetes -the
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