Veganism can be dangerous to very young children. Humans are omnivores and our young need the nutrients readily supplied by meat and other animal-based products, which are among our natural foods.
But animal rights fanatics still push the “meat is murder line,” across the board. And sometimes young children get hurt. From the Telegraph story:
The vegan parents of an 11-month-old Italian baby are under investigation after their son was rushed to hospital suffering severe malnutrition. The couple, who live on the outskirts of the Tuscan city of Pisa, could face charges of abuse over their child, who was taken to Cisanello Hospital in a critical condition.
Doctors said the baby was severely malnourished and showed signs of deficiency in vitamin B12, which is found in foods including fish, meat, eggs and milk. “He could neither crawl nor sit himself up,” said Giovanni Federico, a paediatrician at the hospital. The baby’s parents, who are in their early thirties, follow a vegan diet and do not eat meat, eggs or dairy products.
Mr Federico said the baby’s parents had put him on a vegan diet once he began to eat solid foods.
This isn’t the first such case I have heard about–and animal rights groups of the ilk of PETA bear some responsibility. In fact, some children have died from being forced onto a vegan diet.
PETA’s education efforts put animals over babies. For example, it often fails to warn believers that depriving their very young children of animal-supplied nutrients can cause substantial harm to health. For example, this pitch from the PETA website pushing believers to keep their infants vegan:
MILK
Doctors recommend breastfeeding infants, and yep, breast milk is vegan. If you can’t breastfeed or choose not to, you can try to score breast milk from a vegan donor by going through an approved milk bank, or you can go the soy formula route. The vitamins in soy formula may contain trace amounts of animal products, but you can check with the manufacturer and decide what is best for your family. Please be sure to read PETA’s stance on trace amounts of animal products.
FOOD
A baby’s first foods are typically fruits, veggies, and rice cereal—all of which are naturally vegan. Once your baby is ready for small pieces of food instead of having everything pureed, you can introduce proteins such as tofu, tempeh, and soft cooked beans, and there’s no need for meat! Just remember to feed your baby, vegan or not, a wide variety of foods and a balanced diet.
Vegan diets have to be very well planned in adults. Supplements are essential. Yet, here are no warnings in the article about the potential dangers of depriving children of animal-based nutrients.
I know of one case in which a baby died because her vegan mother’s breast milk contained too few nutrients. Veganism imposed on infant nutrition is dangerous.
PETA and animal rights ideologues care more about “the animals” than they do babies. What other conclusion can we draw?