Food Poisoning
Eating animal products causes 95% of all cases of food poisoning and children are particularly vulnerable. A complication of infection with E.coli 0157 is now thought to be the biggest cause of acute (short-term) kidney failure in children. Farmed animals, in particular cattle, are thought to be the reservoir of infectionHeart Disease
Incredible as it may seem, autopsy studies in children clearly demonstrate that the first signs of atherosclerosis (clogged-up arteries) is occurring at a very young age - a first step in the lead up to heart disease (19). Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the UK but the chances of dying from heart disease are greatly reduced by some 25% by going meat-free (20). Why? Vegetarians are, as a group, leaner and have lower blood pressure levels and cholesterol levels than comparable meat-eaters - both major risk factors for heart disease.Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis - brittle bones - may be a disease we associate with old age but the prevention of it is firmly rooted in childhood. Peak bone mass is reached by the time someone is in their mid-30’s so it is crucial that young people look after their bones from an early age. Obtaining calcium from drinking cow’s milk is no guarantee of good bone health since there are a whole host of factors involved in making bones strong such as hormonal levels, activity levels and of course dietary issues (21). Whilst calcium is important in the diet what is equally important is holding onto this calcium. Animal products tend to cause bones to lose their calcium (due to their acidic nature) whereas plant proteins tend to encourage bones to hold onto it (22). Keeping active from an early age is crucial in maintaining good bone health as is the limiting of high intakes of salt and phosphorus derived from junk food diets and fizzy drinks.Weight Problems
Currently, over half of women and about two thirds of men as well as at least 10% of children are classed as overweight or obese. The World Health Organisation states that obesity is linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoarthritis, gall stones and some cancers and that prevention is the key to tackling weight problems. The 1991 Bogalusa Heart Study showed that even mild obesity in childhood is related to higher levels of blood pressure, insulin and cholesterol levels and that to some extent these track into adulthood (23). Numerous studies show that vegetarians are leaner than meat-eaters (.Humans - A Vegetarian Species
What is becoming abundantly clear is that the type of degenerative diseases we tend to associate with adulthood are now beginning to occur in childhood. Weight problems, type II diabetes and the first signs of heart disease are just some of the major degenerative diseases that children are at risk of - both in childhood and in adulthood. For the first time in a century, life expectancy in the UK is set to fall as obesity and associated diseases such as diabetes and heart disease take their toll. The reason? - a junk food, meat and dairy-centred diet and chronic lack of activity. The cure? - a diet that provides all the necessary protective foods and rejects all the dangerous ones. Scientific evidence clearly shows us this means plant-based not animal-based foods. We are a vegetarian species and ignore our evolutionary past at our peril. As Professor Colin Campbell -Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University and one time senior science advisor to the World Cancer Research Fund states: "The closer one approaches a total plant food diet, the greater the health benefit...Animal foods, in general, are not really helpful and we need to get away from eating them.".Balanced plant-based vegetarian and vegan diets can extend healthy life expectancy by greatly reducing the risks of many degenerative diseases. Bringing your child up on a meat-free/dairy-free diet is, without doubt, the very best life insurance policy you could ever give them.
Summary
- Balanced vegetarian and vegan diets are perfectly safe for infants and children alike and are amply able to provide all the nutrients the body needs.
- Diets based around plants promote health - diets based around meat and dairy products promote disease.
- Vegetarian children have healthier diets than their meat-eating omnivorous peers.
- Vegetarian diets promote healthy eating patterns in childhood.
- Many degenerative diseases are caused by an over-reliance on animal products.
- Vegetarians, as a group, have a reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and obesity.
- Humans have the bodies of a vegetarian species - our risk of disease is increased by eating animal products.
(published with permission in writing from:http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/)
