| You can absolutely raise your children vegan. There | | | | children to eat these things amidst the strong influence |
| are endless amounts of data to support this position | | | | of commercial advertisements and unsupportive family |
| ranging from governmental studies to medical research | | | | and peers? Making healthy eating more appetizing to |
| and the professional opinions of well-respected | | | | children simply requires that you make it fun. Use a |
| nutritionists. The notion that children raised vegetarian | | | | cookie cutter to create fun sandwich shapes. Add a |
| are not healthy is a fabrication to say the least. In fact, | | | | dipping sauce to a kid-sized veggie tray. Add a side of |
| the American Dietetic Association along with the | | | | soy yogurt as dipping sauce for apple or pear slices. |
| Children's National Medical Center in DC and countless | | | | Make a veggie pizza together. Keep a good supply of |
| other well-respected professionals and organizations | | | | finger foods like dried fruit, nuts and berries on hand for |
| have asserted that a well-planned vegetarian diet is | | | | snacking. Just linking fun to meal time will keep them |
| appropriate for people at all ages, including children. | | | | both happy and well nourished. |
| Recently in lieu of the childhood obesity epidemic, this | | | | So despite what friends, family, corporate media, and |
| question is being raised more and more. What has | | | | many others may say numerous studies prove that |
| been discovered in research studies is that when | | | | you can raise your children to be vegetarian. They will |
| compared, vegetarian children have been found to be | | | | still grow to be well-adjusted, healthy, happy adults. |
| leaner, have a lower prevalence of obesity, lower BMI, | | | | You simply need to educate yourself on how to give |
| and better lipid profiles. These findings suggests that | | | | them well-planned meals that provide them with all the |
| the meat, dairy and egg products consumed by | | | | vitamins, minerals and nutrients that they need to |
| non-vegetarian children have an associated risk of | | | | support their developing bodies. In today's |
| obesity while the nutrient, fiber rich diet of vegetarian | | | | information-based society that will not be a difficult |
| children reduces their risk of becoming overweight. | | | | task. Discuss it with your family physician. Go do some |
| Additionally, what most experts propose is that | | | | independent research of your own to get answers to |
| ensuring vegetarian children get adequate amounts of | | | | any unanswered questions that you may have |
| Vitamin B-12, protein and minerals is the key. It is also | | | | concerning this issue. Rest assured though, the |
| advised that vegetarian children be given a varied diet | | | | probability will still be very high that you will discover |
| including legumes, whole grains, tofu, nuts, seeds, and | | | | that raising your children vegetarian is one of the few |
| lots of fresh fruits, leafy green and other | | | | viable healthy dietary options that still exists in this |
| mineral-packed vegetables. | | | | unhealthy world. |
| Now the question for most is how do you get your | | | | |