Are Vegetarian Diets Adequate for Children? In 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture estimated that about 5% of Americans do not consume any meat products. Those who are meat eaters argue that meat is essential to human health, while non-meat eaters argue that it is not because the necessary nutrients in meat could be consumed in non-animal products. This brings us to the issue of the adequacy of vegetarian diets for children. This is an issue that’s rising because many argue that because children are still in the growing process, it is important for them to consume meat because it has the essential nutrients for development. On the contrary, advocates argue that vegetarians are more likely to achieve the current American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations which is important for the development of children as well. Non-vegetarians often argue that meat is an essential factor in dieting because it provides important nutrients that assist with growing and development. In the experiment that Shull, et. al (1977) conducted, they stated that vegetarian preschool children weighted less and were shorter than the norms established from the Harvard growth study. Children who were under the age of 2 were low in their growth velocity, while those over the age of 2 were more comparable to the Harvard standards. When researchers compared macrobiotics (eats organic and sea foods) and non-macrobiotic (vegetarian) diets, they found that there wasn’t a significant difference in children’s growth velocity. Although there were no significant differences, the average weight of children with macrobiotic diets over the age of 2 were higher than the average weight of children with non-macrobiotic diets. Results showed that low growth in ... ... middle of paper ... ... size seem to be too small to pull a conclusion from. Further, the sample size was purely from Boston therefore, the results can only be generalized for those who are in the states and not international. In the second experiment, one strength that I saw was how they were able to break down the diets to specific nutrients that where low and high based on what diet the children followed. On the other hand, I felt like their sample size was not equal between the groups (omnivores and vegetarians) being measured. There were about 1300 participants who were omnivores and only about 40 participant who were vegetarian. In my opinion, they should either find more vegetarians or decrease the amount of participants from the omnivores. Overall, both articles were equally strong in supporting their arguments based on their results even though there may have been some flaws.
I will first show the lack of validity and soundness to Howard’s claim that A) a vegan lifestyle is a healthier choice and B) his claim that one must switch to that lifestyle to enjoy these said benefits. To the claim made in A, Howard uses his own health problems he endured on his meat diet, and uses it as a constant variable comparing it to his now relative healthy lifestyle as a vegan. On first glance anyone who eats a calorie-laden, unbalanced diet and ends up weighing 300 pounds, as Lyman himself admitted, will have health problems regardless of his orientation to meat or vegetables. With this said his comparing analogy is inertly flawed and must be disregarded from the argument he presents. On march 8 before the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Mary K Young, MS.,R.D,NCBA Director of Nutrition Research and Information, presented the benefits of eating meat. Using Data from the 1995 USDA Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSI) she confirms that red meat enhances one overall diet quality. Young goes on to point out that red meat is the number one source for protein, B12, and zinc, number 2 source for B6 and third greatest source for iron, niacin and potassium. She also pointed out that red meat alone has the greatest concentrates of iron and zinc together. Also included cited in Young’s report was the research recently published in the Journal of the American...
After reading both articles, the “cookie monster” article lacks essential information need for the research. For a research to be experimental there are certain variables that needs to be taken into consideration before arriving at a conclusion. Necessary information needed to understand the experimental ...
Active kids who need more calories than the federal limits are also at risk, and may end up feeling weak, fatigued or nauseous during sports and exercise. According to a 2012 article written by registered dietitian Timi Gustafson, not getting enough essential nutrients at meals may lower kids’ IQ scores, memory capacities, fine motor skills, social skills and languages skills into early adulthood and beyond. A child’s poor dietary habits can even influence his sleep patterns, which may have an effect on cognitive behaviors and academic abilities. The results of a research review published in 2004 in the "British Journal of Nutrition," children who are micronutrient-deficient may exhibit more aggressiveness, less mental endurance and lower intelligence test scores. our school lunches are affecting our learning abilities and this is a problem that needs to be resolved
[4]- Robinson-O'Brien, Ramona; Perry, Cheryl L; Wall, Melanie; Story, Mary; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne (2009), "Adolescent and Young Adult Vegetarianism: Better Dietary Intake and Weight Outcomes but Increased Risk of Disordered Eating Behaviors", Journal of the American Dietetic Association 108 (4): 648–655
Vegetarians don’t cut out animal products all together therefore their diet, although not containing meat or flesh of any kind is still more diverse and a better, healthier choice than that of a vegan while still holding on so some of their ethical concerns. Vegans do miss out on many nutrients that are ob...
The term vegan, devised in 1944 via Donald Watson, is referred to as an individual that follows veganism, which is the exclusion of all animal products to be consumed, predominantly in their diet (Kahn, 2011). Veganism is primarily supported due to preventing animal cruelty, as well as its health benefits and environmental consequences (Craig, 2009). Adolescence is referred to as the transition from childhood to adulthood, due to biological changes that occur via the onset of puberty (Ellis, 2004). Essential nutrients that are vital to be consumed during adolescence are proteins, which are in the category of macronutrients as they are required in large amounts, as well as calcium and iron, which are categorised as micronutrients, thus being required in smaller amounts (Bialostosky, Wright, Kennedy-Stephenson, McDowell & Johnson, 2002). Protein, calcium and iron are claimed to be essential nutrients in an adolescent female following a vegan diet as they are at higher risk to be lacked via plant-based sources if the consumption of these nutrients are inadequate, which may implicate negative effects on the growth and development during the pubertal growth spurt (Craig, 2009; Ilich-Ernst et al., 1998). This essay will be regarding to a 14 year old female named Jenny Brown, whom is currently following a vegan diet and is not consuming any supplementation in order to obtain adequate nutrition. As Jenny Brown is at the age of adolescence, this essay will discuss the biological changes that occur during puberty, followed on by a discussion on each of the vital nutrients including the macronutrient protein, as well as the micronutrients calcium and iron that are essential to be adequately consumed in order to attain nutritional competence ...
There are many eating habits all around the world. Most people don’t decide what they want for their eating choice until they are the age where they can decide what they want, without causing any health problems. Children are deciding at a younger age that they don’t want to eat meat. Why is that? Do they know what eating meat could do to them, or do they do it because they don’t want to harm animals? There could be many reasons why children are now avoiding meat and changing their eating habits at a much younger age. More adults are realizing this and thinking- could I be healthier from not eating meat and becoming a vegetarian?
The study consisted of a significant number of females compared to males, which makes it invalid to conclude that the findings support the general population. A strength was that participants were selected at random. By doing so, the study remained unbiased, thus making the results more credible.
“The idea that food can affect children’s behavior gained popularity in the early 1970s, when… Benjamin Feingold claimed that the behavior of many of his young patients improved when he placed them on special diets...” (Schardt 2000) [Online]. But sometimes “The results varied widely from one study to another…” (Schardt 2000) [Online]. This tells us that not every child is the same or can have the same diet.
I have used this journal as a source to many of my researches before and I find them to be very reliable. Statistics stated in this particular article are well sourced, and I have not discovered any sourcing errors, as well as grammatical errors. This source is not objective, but it is not as biased as some of the other articles I have come across on the same topic. I do not believe that the article’s lack of objectivity takes away from its credibility. All of the claim are well documented, and the goal of this article is to bring light to the issue.
Society has recently become increasingly obsessed with health and nutrition, as more and more individuals realize that they can dramatically change their quality of life by adjusting their diet and lifestyle. One such way that people have tried to pursue a healthier lifestyle, is by removing meat and other animal products from their diets, whether they become a strict vegetarian who eats no animal byproducts, or a lacto-ovo vegetarian who still eats eggs and dairy. As with any other lifestyle, research is always being done to see if the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, and so far, the results of vegetarian diets have been encouraging. Vegetarian diets have proven to decrease the risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity, and many other health problems. With a little planning and dedication, a vegetarian diet will be healthier and more beneficial than a traditional diet that includes meat and animal products.
Vegetarians tend to be healthier than those who consume meat. This is due to the prevalent unnatural chemicals used in the processing of meats, and eating these are unsuitable for the body. Meats already contain harmful amounts of cholesterol, and over-consumption of red meat can lead to early heart disease. Animals that are raised on farms for their meat are not treated well, and this mistreatment can lead to harm in the meat they are producing. Although one life choice cannot change one’s environmental
For several years the issue of eating meat has been a great concern to all types of people all over the world. In many different societies controversy has began to arise over the morality of eating meat from animals. A lot of the reasons for not eating meat have to deal with religious affiliations, personal health, animal rights, and concern about the environment. Vegetarians have a greater way of expressing meats negative effects on the human body whereas meat eaters have close to no evidence of meat eating being a positive effect on the human body. Being a vegetarian is more beneficial for human beings because of health reasons, environmental issues, and animal rights.
The Advantages of a Vegetarian Diet Having a healthy dietary method can reduce the chances of receiving many health diseases. These health diseases include obesity, heart disease, and cancer. By consuming certain foods and nutrients in one’s diet, the risk factors for these health diseases can be reduced. A healthy dietary method that is beneficial to reducing and/or improving these health diseases is the vegetarian diet. The vegetarian diet follows a dietary pattern that is characterized by the consumption of plant-like foods and the avoidance of flesh foods (meat, poultry, and fish).
However, many people still refuse to be a vegetarian for different reasons. Some people prefer the taste of meat, and some people believe that they are born to eat meat. Despite that about 2 billion people in the world live basically on the meat diet, around 4 billion people live mainly on a plant-based diet because of food shortage(Pimentel ＆ Pimentel, 2003, pp660S). As everyone knows, the number of population is growing. For example, the total U.S. population doubled in the previous 60 years, and it may double again in the next 70 years (Pimentel ＆ Pimentel, 2003, pp660S). People won’t have enough meat to eat in the future. On the other hand, a well-planned vegetarian diet offers many health benefits. Therefore, people should become vegetarian because it benefits to huma...