There is no doubt that there are huge health benefits to living a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle, but is it appropriate for babies who require a certain amount of nutrients and vitamins to aid in their development?
A family has recently had their 14-month-old son taken away after he was brought to the hospital and found to be severely malnourished, weighing only as much as an average 3-month-old. Their strict vegan diet was to blame.
The 14-month-old boy was brought to a Milan hospital by his grandparents where doctors were shocked to find he weighed the same as an average 3-month-old baby.
According to The Local, blood tests were done showing the child was severely malnourished with calcium levels so low they were basically “the minimum needed to survive”.
Once the child was examined it was discovered he was also suffering from a heart condition that required immediate surgery.
While his heart condition was not caused by his malnutrition, doctors feel that the chronic lack of calcium in his diet contributed to the problem.
While the infant survived the surgery and is recovering, medical staff reported the incident to social services. According to The Local, staff became concerned for the welfare of the baby after his parents allegedly refused to change their diet.
As a result, the parents have lost their custodial rights to their son. He is in the care of the hospital while courts determine if his grandparents will gain custody, according to The Telegraph.
Obviously a vegan lifestyle can be perfectly healthy if done right, but unfortunately this child’s parents provided him with no dietary supplements.
“It’s not a problem if parents want to raise their children using alternative or even unusual diets,” head pediatrician Luca Bernardo at the Milan hospital Fatebenefratelli explained.
“But care needs to be taken to make up for any nutritional shortfalls using supplements. For example, the one-year-old child we are treating should have been taking iron and calcium supplements.”
Bernardo goes on to comment on how diet needs to be considered in these cases.
“This forces us to reflect on uncommon feeding regimes, even if in this case it was complicated by a cardiac malformation.”
“It is not a problem to choose different or unusual kinds of nutrition and we certainly do not want to enter into a discussion of the merits of the decision. But since birth, the baby should have had support in this case with calcium and iron.”
The Telegraph reports that this isn’t the first time Italy has had a child hospitalized due to their vegan diet.
Four children have been hospitalized within the last 18 months with one having to spend several days in intensive care due to malnourishment.
The Washington Post also details other cases where parents were convicted of manslaughter, murder, child neglect and cruelty to children all for failing to feed them properly.
Obviously a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle is healthy and some would say healthier than a diet that includes meat and dairy, but babies and infants need certain supplements to aid with their muscle, bone and brain development.
It’s so sad to me that these parents couldn’t see that they were seriously harming their child.
What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in the comments and don’t forget to SHARE this post with your friends!
Source http://www.hotmomsclub.com/
All content on this Web site, including medical opinion and any other health-related information, is for informational purposes only and should not be considered to be a specific diagnosis or treatment plan for any individual situation. Use of this site and the information contained herein does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Always seek the direct advice of your own doctor in connection with any questions or issues you may have regarding your own health or the health of others.
