Can I feed my children a purely vegetarian diet?
In principle, a vegetarian diet is also possible for children. However, due to their growth, children are considerably more susceptible to the development of deficiencies, which is why a vegetarian diet for children requires a particularly high level of vigilance and discipline. For this reason, the Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE) recommends a varied mixed diet for children, which therefore also contains meat.
However, the Institute also emphasizes that it does not consider a vegetarian diet for children to be questionable as long as it is balanced. So if you decide to feed your child a vegetarian diet, you should consider the following aspects. First and foremost, it is very important to ensure that your child receives an adequate iron intake.
When breastfeeding, only a very small amount of iron is passed on through breast milk. In the first few months of life, the infant therefore uses up the iron reserves it has built up during pregnancy. From the 5th-7th month these stores are empty, which is why feeding with meat-based supplementary food is recommended from this period onwards.
For parents who want to feed their child a vegetarian diet, there are now supplementary foods containing iron-rich cereals instead of meat – when buying baby food, make sure that the information on the jars is correct. If your child has outgrown infancy, you should continue to ensure that he or she is eating enough iron. Muesli, bread and cereal products are considered good sources of iron.
Fruit, vegetables and salad do not contain a lot of iron, but they do promote the utilization of iron in the body and thus also have a positive effect on the iron balance of the child. The risk of protein deficiency under vegetarian diets can be counteracted by eating eggs and dairy products. While this is a good way to avoid meat and fish, the German Society for Nutrition (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung e. V.) advises that children should avoid meat and fish.
(DGE) advises against a strictly vegetarian (vegan) diet for children in general. This does not only bear the risk of a deficiency supply of iron, but also of vitamin B12 and zinc. Should you nevertheless have the urgent desire to nourish your child vegan, please consult a pediatrician – if you would like to eat vegan food during pregnancy, it is best to do so before pregnancy starts! The doctor can, if necessary with the involvement of a nutritionist, together with you create a nutrition plan and,
