If you are a parent, the next natural question is whether you will use this eating style for the whole family. Toddlers, school-age children, and high school students have different nutritional needs from each other as well as from adults. Stanford professor and pediatrician Lisa Patel, MD, says she has been asked so much if plant foods are safe for children, that she is currently proposing a set of guidelines to the American Academy of Pediatrics that parents should be aware of when following them. way of eating.
Unlike the vegan diet, which avoids animal products altogether, eating plants is more nuanced. Meat can still be eaten if needed (it’s just not the focus of the meal) and other animal products such as dairy and eggs are still on the table. However, plant foods (including vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds and fruits) are the main focal point of most meals.
The flexibility of the eating plan is exactly why registered dietitian Jennifer Hyland, RD, is a fan. “As a pediatric dietitian, I prefer eating plants rather than vegan or vegetarianism because it still leaves room for meat,” she says. That said, his children say they need far less meat than some think. While Hyland and dr. Patel says that eating plants can be based on children, it’s great, but they say there are some pitfalls and extra attention needs to be paid to them.
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The benefits of a plant diet for children
Both Drs. Patel and Hyland say there are some benefits to a plant-based diet for children of all ages. One big thing: it usually means more vegetables, which is especially important for children. “Most children do not get the amount of vegetables they need to eat,” says Dr. Patel. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 90 percent of people in the U.S. (including children) do not get enough vegetables in their diet and 80 percent of people do not eat enough fruit. Current U.S. nutrition guidelines for 2020-2025 recommend that children ages 2 to 18 eat between one and two and a half cups of vegetables a day (depending on their total calorie intake) and between one and two cups of fruit a day (again). , depending on the total calorie intake).
Hyland says many of the parents who ask her about eating plants for children are particularly concerned about proteins. She says it’s not something to worry about too much, not only because there are many non-meat protein sources for children, but that they also do not need as much protein as many think. “For toddlers, if they drink two cups of milk a day and have only a little meat, their protein needs are met,” she says. Hyland adds that school-age children need four ounces of protein a day and teens need five or six ounces a day. “Besides meat, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes and tofu are an excellent source of protein for children,” she says.
Here are some other plant-based protein sources that an RD loves:
“The most important thing to keep in mind – for adults and children – is that a diet should be balanced with fiber, protein, carbohydrates and fats,” says Dr. Patel. She adds that the beauty of plant-based eating habits is that this roundness often occurs naturally when you follow the eating plan. Beans, for example, are a good source of fiber and protein. Likewise, peanut butter contains a lot of protein and healthy fats.
Both experts emphasize that the most important thing to keep in mind is choosing nutritious whole foods instead of nutrient-poor, heavily processed foods, no matter what eating plan you follow. Since these types of nutritious foods are plant based, it can become easier if you eat them.
What to look out for when eating out with your family
Although both experts say that eating plant based can definitely be healthy for children, they say that there should be some nutrients that need extra attention. One of these is vitamin B-12, which is found mainly in meat and is important for energy production and mood. According to the National Institutes of Health, children need between 0.4 micrograms and 2.4 micrograms of vitamin B-12 per day, the latter of which can be found in four ounces of meat or fish (the size of a pack of cards). However, Hyland says that families who do not eat meat or fish every day can also turn to a fortified grain for the nutrients. “If your child does not eat meat or fish at all, you may want to consider a vitamin B-12 supplement,” she adds.
Another nutrient that Hyland says parents should pay attention to is iron, which is essential for transporting oxygen through the body. Children need between 11 mg and 15 mg of iron per day. “Meat is often a primary source of iron, but it can also be found in beans, broccoli and some fortified cereals,” she says.
Vitamin D – which supports the growth of bones and teeth, affects your mood, and more – is another difficult nutrient to get without animal products. If dairy and eggs are still part of the plant’s eating plan for your family, Hyland says your child’s vitamin D needs to be met, but if you have no milk or eggs in the fridge, it’s a different nutrient. to pay attention. “Most alternative milk is not a good source of vitamin D because it consists mainly of water,” she says. Just like adults, children need 600 micro-units of vitamin D a day. If you spend 10 to 30 minutes a day in the sun, you should get there, but if you live in a place that is not very sunny, you may want to consider a vitamin D supplement for your child if you plan to to stay milk. and egg-free house.
It should be repeated that a vegetable diet does not require meat to be completely cut out; it just means to make it more of a side than the middle of the plate. Hyland says when choosing meat that some make healthier choices for children (and adults in this regard) than others. “A little red meat is good because it’s a particularly good source of iron. So it’s healthy to have it a few times a week, but otherwise I recommend lean chicken and turkey that contain less saturated fat,” she says. “It is also beneficial for children to have fish several times a week because it is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.”
The last important piece of advice Hyland gives to plant-based families is to focus on whole foods, and not just pick up the latest plant-labeled products in the grocery store. “Sometimes I will see that parents just give their kids lots of protein bars and other snacks loaded with carbs and sugar that are not necessarily healthy to load up on, even though it is‘ plant-based, ’” Hyland says. “You want to focus on nutritious foods, no matter what eating plan your style plans.”
She also recommends explaining to children why you eat vegetables – whether for health reasons, the environment, religion, etc. – and be careful not to demonize any specific food. (Like calling certain foods “good” or “bad,” or referring to things as “spoiled” or “guilty pleasure,” all of which attribute moral values to food.) “If you do, you can leads to disorderly eating or fear of certain foods, ”she says.
The end result is that plant-based eating can be healthy for children, with these guidelines in place. Hey, every parent if you do not have to cook something completely different for your kids is good news. Now they actually get it eat their vegetables, this is the next obstacle …
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