# 12 year old vegetarian. Nutritionally sound choice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998 "2010-08-03T12:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/41 "2010-08-04T01:09:51Z")
I know everybody’s just having fun and all, but… eggs are not abortions. They are eggs. Almost all of them are unfertilized. Hens will lay eggs without ever being near roosters. Okay, thanks. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/42 "2010-08-04T01:11:17Z")
When I think about it, it is kinda weird that chicken abortions are a major food for our culture - we eat 'em in baked goods, breakfast foods, all sorts of things you don’t even think about. When you think about having to go out in the rain and sleet and all to get the damned things back in the day you wonder why we eat so many of them. ETA - okay, chicken periods. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/43 "2010-08-04T01:16:41Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > Amazing advice here, overall. I see iron pills in her future. You might also want to get her one of Michael Pollan’s books or have her visit a local family-run farm, if there are any nearby. Learning to cook for herself (and the family) is a must – you might even be able to convince her to eat eat one or two days a week. Especially if that meat is bacon. Iron pills aren’t necessarily needed, but a good multivitamin with iron is probably a wise choice for any teenage girl. I’m an ovo-lacto vegetarian who only started to have iron issues when I hit my very late 30s and my periods started going wonky. Agreed that she really should read up on the topic (Pollan’s books aren’t vegetarian but are meat-minimizing, and informative), and help to cook. I didn’t go vegetarian until I went to college and started cooking - and reading up on the various issues around eating meat - for myself. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/44 "2010-08-04T01:20:31Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > When I think about it, it is kinda weird that chicken abortions are a major food for our culture - we eat 'em in baked goods, breakfast foods, all sorts of things you don’t even think about. When you think about having to go out in the rain and sleet and all to get the damned things back in the day you wonder why we eat so many of them. > > ETA - okay, chicken periods. I’d say it’s less effort than raising, butchering and preserving meat, and far less effort than hunting. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/45 "2010-08-04T01:24:05Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > When you think about having to go out in the rain and sleet and all to get the damned things back in the day you wonder why we eat so many of them. No, eggs are easy. Laying hens are hardly any work to keep, once you’ve got a suitable coop–certainly the easiest livestock. The food supply is more regular and more certain than crops. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/46 "2010-08-04T01:33:15Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Sure, if you don’t object to eating chicken abortions or the cruel and inhumane treatment of farmed poultry. 😉 > > Stranger I actually enjoy eating all types of abortions and I regularly punch any birds I can get my hands on, including my pet budgie, so it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/47 "2010-08-04T01:45:46Z")
Pediatrician checking in. And with [a source](http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/521903)! > [@](#): > > The American Dietetic Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics agree that well-planned vegan and vegetarian diets can satisfy the nutritional needs and promote normal growth of infants and young children (American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition, 1998; Messina & Burke, 1997). In addition, a vegetarian style of eating follows the dietary guidelines and meets requirements of the Recommended Dietary Allowances for nutrients (National Academy of Science, 2003; United States Department of Agriculture, 2005). Many well-designed studies have concluded that children and adolescents who follow a properly designed vegetarian diet grow and develop normally (Nathan, Hackett, & Kirby, 1997; O’Connell et al., 1989; Sabate, Lindsted, Harris, & Sanchez, 1991; Sabate, Lindsted, Harris, & Johnston, 1990; Sanders & Manning, 1992; Sanders & Reddy, 1994). Birth weights of infants born to well-nourished vegetarian women have been shown to be similar to birth weight norms and to birth weights of infants born to nonvegetarian mothers (O’Connell et al.). Research has highlighted nutritional advantages to vegetarian diets and has indicated that this style of eating can lead to lifelong healthy eating habits when adopted at a young age. Studies show that children and adolescents who follow a vegetarian diet have a lower intake of cholesterol, saturated fat, and total fat and a higher intake of fruit, vegetables, and fiber than their nonvegetarian counterparts (Fulton, Hutton, & Stitt, 1980; Neumark-Sztainer, Story, Resnick, & Blum, 1997; Novy, 2000; Sanders & Manning). In addition, research suggests that vegetarian children are leaner than nonvegetarian children (Krajcovicová-Kudlácková, Simoncic, Bederova, Grancicova, & Magalova, 1997; Sabate et al., 1990). We also have learned that vegetarian adults have a decreased risk for several chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypertension, obesity, and some types of cancer (Appleby, Thorogood, Mann, & Key, 1999; Beilin, 1994; Dwyer, 1988; Fraser, 1999; Fraser, Lindsted, & Beeson, 1995; Kahn, Phillips, Snowdon, & Choi, 1984; Key et al., 1999; Key, Thorogood, Appleby, & Burr, 1996; Knutsen, 1994; Messina & Burke, 1997; Phillips et al., 1980; Rajaram & Sabate, 2000; Roberts, 1995). Problem is that most pediatric vegetarians are not really vegetarian - I mean you have to eat some vegetables to be a vegetarian. They are pastarians, pizzarians, junkarians … but not vegetarians. Two of my three older boys went through vegetarian phases. As the family cook I had no problem making sure that they did it right. One still avoids all red meats but will do dairy, eggs, fish, and even poultry. That one had started off his teen years obese and in the less than a year of switching over his diet - and exercising regularly - has lost 30 - 40 pounds while growing 4 inches taller and losing 4 inches at the waist. 12 is a common age to consider it, and to try it for a while. Be particularly aware of quality protein sources in adequate quantity, of B vitamins, of iron, of Calcium, and of Vitamin D. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/48 "2010-08-04T01:48:03Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Do you know any young teens? God, all the time with the “meat is murder” and the “save the whales” and the “you really shouldn’t drive after that one beer” and the “you’re not recycling that?” and the “you eat VEAL?” and on and on and on and on. You forgot the “how can I most inconvenience my parents and freak them out?” Twelve is a little young for that, but as someone who had entire herds of vegetarian Wiccan friends (who are almost all church going meat eaters now that we are all in our 40s), rejecting your parents values is a driving factor. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/49 "2010-08-04T01:56:14Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Problem is that most pediatric vegetarians are not really vegetarian - I mean you have to eat some vegetables to be a vegetarian. They are pastarians, pizzarians, junkarians … but not vegetarians. My ex-sister in law was vegan. She was in her 20s and old enough to know better. She was vegan for health reasons. Because animal products made her feel ill. She also didn’t eat tomatos or citrus - both made her feel ill. She didn’t like green vegetables. Far as I can tell, she lived off potato chips, rice and pasta with some tofu thrown in. And soda and liquor - that girl could drink. The weird thing was she kept cutting things out of her diet so she’d feel better. Eventually, both soy and wheat went. I’m not sure exactly why you’d continue to feel lousy on a diet of Coke, potato chips and Jose Cuervo. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/50 "2010-08-04T02:01:59Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I know everybody’s just having fun and all, but… eggs are not abortions. They are eggs. Almost all of them are unfertilized. Hens will lay eggs without ever being near roosters. “Every sperm is sacred…” > [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I actually enjoy eating all types of abortions and I regularly punch any birds I can get my hands on, including my pet budgie, so it’s all good. It’s a shame you’re married. Do you have a sister? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/51 "2010-08-04T02:03:47Z")
There’s like 800 million vegetarians since birth in India. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/52 "2010-08-04T02:22:21Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > If the o.p.'s child is determined to eat a vegetarian diet for ethical reasons, the best thing to do is to have her educate herself on nutrition and set out a prescribed diet to be followed including adequate supplementation. Consultation with a licensed nutritionist knowledgeable about pediatric nutrition is highly recommended. > > Good god, is that _really_ necessary? You realize that billions of people have manage to eat and still eat without needing professional services? Yes, she needs to educate herself, but seriously, hiring a professional and getting a “prescribed” diet? Have you _seen_ people? Take a look around, your average adult doesn’t know (or doesn’t apply the knowledge of) what sound nutrional choices are, so how can we expect a 12-year-old to do so on her own? It doesn’t need to be a precribed diet, but a nutritionist should be able to arm the child and parents with information about how to be healthy sans meat. But I’d wait a couple of weeks before making an appointment, to see if she was actually going to stick with the new diet, or if it’d be as short-lived a phase as most of my friends’ sudden declarations of becoming vegitarians at that age were. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/53 "2010-08-04T02:25:16Z")
Are we talking ovo-lacto vegetarian? If so, as long as she takes a couple of supplements (Iron, Vit D, B12, Calcium, Folic acid- and all of which are not a bad idea for even a omnivore girl) she should be OK. Dairy will supply a lot of calcium, D, etc. Soy is also a good source of protein. I agree with **DSeid** , most kids that age are not really Vegetarians so much as (in the one girl I knew) “mashed-potato and cereal-ian”. It’s certainly _possible_ to get a well-balanced vegetarian diet. It’s just _harder._ ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/54 "2010-08-04T02:38:09Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > > [@Broomstick](#): > > > > I’m sorry, I can’t let this stand. Tuna DOES contain fat, even when packed with water. It’s animal flesh, it contains fat, even if it’s a relatively low fat variety of flesh. Where on earth did you get the idea it’s somehow naturally fat-free? > > Al Bundy is correct. I just had a can of tuna for supper, so I ran up and grabbed the can and checked out the label: zero fat of any kind. The label is lying. Below a certain amount the are allowed to round _down_, so a small portion of tuna they can claim is fat free but it is not. It’s animal flesh, and it has fat. Starkist lists its waterpack tuna as having 0.5 to as high as 2 grams per serving depending on variety of tuna. That works out to somewhere between 3% to 12% of the calories in a serving of tuna coming from fat. Particularly if you have, say a small 2 or 2.5 ounce “single serving” then they can legally round down to zero fat, but there’s still fat present. Approximately half the fat in tuna is saturated fat. Granted, it’s not a huge amount, but it is present. So… between 0.25 to 1 gram of saturated fat per serving of tuna. Again, not a lot, but it is there. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/55 "2010-08-04T02:51:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Are we talking ovo-lacto vegetarian? If so, as long as she takes a couple of supplements (Iron, Vit D, B12, Calcium, Folic acid- and all of which are not a bad idea for even a omnivore girl) Huh? You specifically singled out ovo-lacto vegetarianism; would milk not provide enough B12 and calcium (and, in our fortified world, vitamin D, in addition to self-generation)? And I see no reason why vegetarians would get less folic acid than omnivores… Where are these recommendations coming from? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/56 "2010-08-04T02:59:36Z")
I see now that you did in fact mention that dairy will provide many of those things in the next sentence. Still, given that, I’m confused why you felt she needed to take supplements for them as well. Perhaps I’m just blind to either the difficulties or my deficiencies, but I don’t think it’s hard at all to have a sufficiently nutritious lacto-vegetarian diet. I mean, I put zero regular thought into any of these things. Veganism, sure, that’s something of a hassle, but lacto-vegetarianism doesn’t seem like there’s anything special to it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/57 "2010-08-04T03:03:03Z")
Well, all women of childbearing age are supposed to take folic acid. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/58 "2010-08-04T03:14:19Z")
Sure, but that’s not a vegetarianism-specific concern, which is why I was puzzled. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/59 "2010-08-04T05:04:06Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Sure, but that’s not a vegetarianism-specific concern, which is why I was puzzled. “\*and all of which are not a bad idea for even a omnivore girl” \* ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998/60 "2010-08-04T05:13:21Z")
_shrugs_. To me, your post clearly read as though you were suggesting that, as an ovo-lacto-vegetarian, she would particularly need to take such supplements, to a degree beyond that to which they might also be a good idea in general. If that’s not what you intended, well, ok, but it would be as odd as answering the OP by mentioning that, as an ovo-lacto-vegetarian, she should make sure to floss daily and get regular cardiovascular exercise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-year-old-vegetarian-nutritionally-sound-choice/548998.md?page=4)