Vegetarian diet for toddlers
Vegetarian Diets (for Parents) - Nemours KidsHealth
Parents may wonder if kids can follow a vegetarian diet and still get all nutrition they need to grow up healthy and strong. Experts agree that a well-planned vegetarian diet can be a very healthy way to eat for people of all ages.
What Are the Types of Vegetarian Diets?
There are different kinds of vegetarian diets. A true vegetarian eats no meat at all, including poultry or fish. Variations include:
- Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat no meat, poultry, or fish, but do eat eggs and dairy products.
- Lacto-vegetarians eat no meat, poultry, fish, or eggs, but do eat dairy products.
- Ovo-vegetarians eat no meat, poultry, fish, or dairy products, but do eat eggs.
- Vegans eat no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, or other animal products like honey or gelatin.
Many people want to eat less meat. Some people who stop eating red meat but may eat poultry or fish consider themselves semi-vegetarians, sometimes called flexitarians. People who follow a vegetarian diet but eat fish and seafood are called pescatarians.
Why Become a Vegetarian?
People choose vegetarian diets for a variety of reasons. Younger vegetarians are usually part of a family that eats vegetarian meals for health, cultural, or other reasons. Older kids may decide to become vegetarians because of concern for animals, the environment, or their own health.
Don’t be alarmed if your child declares they’re a vegetarian. Find out why they made this choice and discuss what it means. Work together to help your child make healthy food choices.
Nutrition Tips for Vegetarians of All Ages
Your doctor or a registered dietitian can help you plan a healthy vegetarian diet that can meet kids' nutritional needs and offer many health benefits. A diet rich in fruits and veggies is high in fiber and low in fat, which is good for heart health. Vegetarians are less likely to be overweight, have high blood pressure, or get type 2 diabetes.
But kids and teens on vegetarian diets must be sure to get enough of some vitamins and minerals.
Nutrients that vegetarians need and ways to get them include:
- vitamin B12: in dairy products, eggs, and vitamin-fortified products, such as cereals, breads, and milk alternatives, and nutritional yeast
- vitamin D: in milk, vitamin D-fortified orange juice, and other vitamin D-fortified products
- calcium: in dairy products; dark green leafy vegetables; broccoli; dried beans; and calcium-fortified products, including orange juice, milk alternatives, and cereals
- protein: in dairy products, eggs, tofu and other soy products, dried beans, and nuts
- iron: in eggs, dried beans, dried fruits, whole grains, leafy green vegetables, and iron-fortified cereals and bread
Depending on the type of vegetarian diet, kids may miss out on some of these important nutrients. The less strict the vegetarian diet, the easier it will be for your child to meet nutrition requirements.
Talk to your doctor to see if your child needs to take vitamin or mineral supplements.
Can Infants Be Vegetarians?
The main sources of protein and nutrients for infants are breast milk and formula (soy formula for vegan infants), especially in the first 6 months of life. Vegan mothers and their breastfed infants may need B12 supplements. Vitamin D recommendations are the same for vegetarian and non-vegetarian infants.
Guidelines for the introduction of solid foods are the same for vegetarian and non-vegetarian infants. Breastfed infants 6 months and older should get iron from foods, such as iron-fortified infant cereal.
After an infant starts eating solids, protein-rich vegetarian foods can include pureéd tofu, cottage cheese, yogurt or soy yogurt, and pureéd and strained legumes (such as beans, split peas, chickpeas, and lentils).
What About Vegetarian Toddlers?
Toddlers are already a challenge when it comes to eating. As they come off of breast milk or formula, pay extra attention to offering iron-rich foods, including iron-fortified cereals.
Toddlers are typically picky about which foods they'll eat. Vegetarian toddlers also may feel full before they get enough of the calories and nutrients they need. That’s because the amount of vegetables served might be too bulky for their tiny stomachs. Use snack time to boost nutrition by offering healthy food between meals.
Talk to the doctor to see if your toddler needs a vitamin or mineral supplement.
Older Vegetarian Kids and Teens
Preteens and teens often voice their independence through the foods they choose to eat. One strong statement is the decision to stop eating meat.
If it's done right, a meat-free diet can be a good choice for teens, especially considering that vegetarians often eat more of the foods that most teens don't get enough of — fruits and vegetables.
A vegetarian diet that includes dairy products and eggs (lacto-ovo) is the best choice for growing teens. A more strict vegetarian diet can meet your teen's nutritional needs, but will need more attention and planning.
If you're concerned that your child is not getting enough important nutrients such as iron, calcium, and vitamins D and B12, talk to your doctor, who may recommend a vitamin and mineral supplement.
The good news for young vegetarians — and their parents — is that many schools have vegetarian fare, including salad bars and other healthy vegetarian choices. Check your school’s upcoming lunch menus to see if your child will have a vegetarian choice. If not, you can pack lunch.
If your child would rather make their own school lunch or buys lunch, keep in mind that their idea of a healthy vegetarian meal may be much different from yours (e.g., French fries and a soda). Talk to your child about the importance of eating right, especially when following a vegetarian diet.
Also be wary if your child has self-imposed a very restrictive diet. A teen with an eating disorder may drastically reduce calories or cut out all fat or carbohydrates and call it "vegetarian" because it's considered acceptable and healthy.
Even if preteens or teens approach vegetarian diets in a healthy way, it's still important for them to understand which nutrients might be missing. To support your child's choice and focus on what they should be eating, consider having the whole family eat a vegetarian meal at least one night a week.
A Healthy Lifestyle
A vegetarian diet can be a healthy choice for all kids, as long as it's planned well.
The basics of a vegetarian diet are the same as for any healthy diet — provide a variety of foods including plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes (like beans, soy, and lentils), nuts, and seeds. Be careful when it comes to processed foods, which tend to be low in nutrients and high in fat, calories, and salt.
If you aren't sure your child is getting all needed nutrients or if you have any questions about vegetarian diets, check in with your family doctor, pediatrician, or a registered dietitian.
Reviewed by: Mary L.
Gavin, MD
Date reviewed: January 2021
What You Need to Know to Raise a Healthy Vegetarian Child
Maybe you are vegetarian and your children want to eat the same way. Or perhaps your seven year-old learned where hamburgers come from and does not want to eat them anymore. No matter the reason, children can safely follow a vegetarian eating plan. Here’s what you need to know to raise a healthy vegetarian child.
What is a vegetarian?
There is more than one type of vegetarian:
● Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat dairy and eggs but do not eat meat, poultry and fish.
● Pesco-vegetarians eat dairy, eggs and fish, but do not eat meat and poultry.
● Vegans do not eat dairy, eggs, meat, poultry and fish.
With some planning and careful attention to important nutrients, any of these vegetarian eating types can be followed by children.
Healthy at all ages
From toddler to teen, children of all ages can be vegetarian.
The important thing is to make sure they get the nutrients and energy they need to grow and develop well. This will take some planning. Before your children start following a vegetarian eating pattern, speak to a dietitian or health care provider. Here's some information about how to help your child follow a balanced vegetarian diet.
A well-planned vegetarian diet
Like all children, vegetarian children require a variety of foods for healthy growth and development. Every day your children need:
- Vegetables and Fruit: a variety of vegetables and fruits. They can be fresh, frozen, canned or dried options
- Whole grains: such as whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, oats, barley, brown rice and quinoa
Protein foods: such as nuts and seeds, tofu, tempeh, edamame, fortified plant-based beverages, legumes like lentils and beans. Depending on the type of vegetarian your child is, protein foods could also include eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese and fish.
Some kid-approved vegetarian favourites are:
- Whole grain cereal with milk or fortified plant-based beverage
- Muesli or hot cereal like oatmeal
- Vegetable omelettes or scrambled eggs. Try this Indian spiced egg dish.
- Nut butter sandwiches. Try peanut butter with banana or almond butter with sliced apple.
- Yogurt parfaits or smoothies
- Macaroni and cheese
- Veggie and Bean Pita
- Veggie pizza
- Dahl
- Tofu fajitas
- Bean burritos
- Pasta with soy meat balls, veggies and tomato sauce
- Veggie burgers
- Falafel (chickpea balls) in a pita
- Hummus (chickpea spread) with veggies
- Quesadillas
- Stir-frys with tofu
- Sushi rolls
Try these kid friendly recipes:
Yummy Quinoa Lunch
Sweet Chili Tofu Stir-Fry
Spinach and mushroom lasagna
Souper Lunch with Rice and Beans
My Grandma’s Beet Soup
Masa (corn) Pancakes
Yogurt Banana Split
Nutrients to pay attention to in a vegetarian diet
A well-planned vegetarian diet for your children means paying special attention to some important nutrients.
Speak to your dietitian about food sources for these nutrients.
Protein:
- Soy products – tofu, TVP (textured vegetable protein), veggie burgers, tempeh, edamame
- Milk, cheese, yogurt
- Fortified plant-based beverages – read the label to compare the protein content of different plant-based beverages.
- Eggs
- Legumes like beans, peas and lentils
- Nuts and seeds and their butters
- Fish and seafood – if they eat this
Iron:
- Iron-fortified cereal
- Legumes like beans, peas and lentils
- Soy products – tofu, TVP, veggie burgers, tempeh, edamame
- Fortified pasta and cereals
- Dried fruit
- Quinoa
- Dark green vegetables
Zinc:
- Legumes like lentils, baked beans
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Whole grains
Vitamin B12
- Dairy products like milk and yogurt
- Eggs
- Fortified soy products – beverages, tofu, veggie burgers
- Nutritional yeast
- Supplements
If your child is vegan they will need to get calcium and vitamin D from sources such as:Calcium
- Fortified plant-based beverages
- Calcium-set tofu
- Almonds
- Legumes
- Leafy green vegetables
Vitamin D
- Soft margarine
- Fortified plant-based beverages
- Supplements
Omega 3 fats
- Oils: Canola oil, soy oil
- Soy products: Soybeans, tofu
- Walnuts
- Flax seed
- Seaweed
The youngest vegetarians
Vegetarian or not, breast milk is best for babies. Breast milk plus a vitamin D supplement provides all of the nutrients your baby needs for the first six months of life.
For information about introducing solid foods to babies, click here.
Breastfeeding vegetarian mothers need to get enough of the same nutrients listed above. Omega-3 fats are important for infant development and you may need an omega-3 supplement. Vegan mothers may need a vitamin B12 supplement each day. Speak to a dietitian or healthcare provider about prenatal and postnatal supplements.
If your baby is formula-fed, use an iron-fortified formula until age one, then switch to whole milk. Vegan babies should have iron-fortified soy formula until age two.
A dietitian can help you plan vegetarian meals that meet your family’s preferences, culture and lifestyle. They will make sure your child is getting enough important nutrients, like protein, iron and calcium, to grow and be healthy. Connect with a dietitian today!
Bottom line:Well-planned vegetarian diets can be nutritious for people of all ages and can provide you with all the nutrients for good health.
But planning is key! A dietitian can help make sure your child is getting all the nutrients they need to grow and be healthy.
You may also be interested in:
Four steps to a balanced vegan eating pattern
What you need to know about a vegetarian eating plan
What you need to know about following a vegan eating plan
This article was written and reviewed by dietitians from Dietitians of Canada. The advice in this article is intended as general information and should not replace advice given by your dietitian or healthcare provider.
Last Update – June 20, 2022
90,000 children's vegetarian menu for a week (suitable not only to vegetarians)-
Discounts to vegetarians
-
Our newspaper
9000 I am often asked what my vegetarian child eats. And I decided to share our weekly menu, suddenly someone will be inspired. -
Discounts to vegetarians
-
Our newspaper
-
Events and events
We try not to give sweets (well, sometimes ...) - it seems to me that children under 3 years old do not need them, if only vegan pastries are in my performance.
The child receives sugar from honey, dried fruits, fruits.
I enrich dishes with oils. For example, I add sesame oil to morning cereals - a source of omega-3,6,9. In salads - olive and linseed. For toast, bread, pasta, cereals - flaxseed and cedar.
Smoothies with Chia seeds are an excellent source of omega for both children and adults. The slippery grains add texture to the smoothie, they are delicious, very healthy, and are considered a superfood, which, by the way, is inexpensive. During the day, my son only drinks water with lemon, ginger (sometimes honey). No tea, no packaged juices. Sometimes we can buy birch or carrot, but we still try to give our own preparation; I can cook (more precisely, bring to a boil and leave to infuse) compote of dried fruits or frozen cherries and rhubarb. All without sugar, in such a drink, cooled to room temperature, you can add honey to taste if you like.
The cooking process is reduced to a minimum, we eat only freshly prepared food, we do not reheat or use the microwave.
Porridge, basically, I bring to a semi-finished state, then cover with a lid and insist for 7-10 minutes. It is also very convenient to cook cereals in a slow cooker.
Soup is pretty fast. Pour boiling water over fresh or frozen vegetables, cook for 10-15 minutes and turn it off, add vegetable oil (sunflower, olive or other), seasonings, sea salt (I try to alternate, but more often we have Himalayan pink at home) and leave for another 10 minutes, after which I beat in a blender or do not beat, and finally I generously sprinkle with fresh herbs or raw seeds (sunflower, pumpkin).
Most often I cook vegetables for a couple, but sometimes we like to bake in a bag or on a baking sheet. If I fry something in a pan, then only in butter, coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter). The food acquires a caramel, delicate taste and a beautiful amber color.
My child has snacks twice a day - these can be nuts, dried fruits, rye or corn bread, fruits, vegetables. Fruits - always before meals, then they bring maximum benefit - and not as a dessert after (all because fruits are digested so quickly, within 30 minutes, and do not rot under the pressure of other food).
Now I want to share our weekly menu, which varies depending on the mood, desires, new taste discoveries, as well as adjusted for the season of the year, the country. I try to plan the menu for a week or at least daily in the evening; and if time permits, I like to improvise.
Here is our menu option for the week
Monday
8.00 smoothies: 2 tbsp. l. chia + banana + water
9.00-9.30 oatmeal on the water with sesame/butter or ghee
11.00-11.30 fresh carrot, apple
13.00 pumpkin soup with whole boiled beans
16.30 a handful of nuts, compote of cherries and rhubarb
19.00 buckwheat with a drop of linseed oil
Tuesday
8.00 raisins, dates, dried apricots
9.00 pancakes (“nalesniki”) with cottage cheese
13.00 pea soup puree with herbs
16.30 green smoothie - apple juice, spinach, banana, 2 tbsp CHIA
19.
00 pasta (buckwheat, spelled or rye) with spinach, mozzarella and tomatoes
Wednesday
8.00 kiwi pudding with chia + vegetable milk
9.00-9.30 oatmeal
13.00 vegetable soup with herbs
16.30 peanut butter bread
19.00 brown rice with steamed vegetables (broccoli, peas, carrots)
Thursday
8.00 apple
9.00-9.30 apple pie (without eggs) with raw sunflower seeds
11.00-11.30 a handful of nuts
13.00 red lentil puree soup with vermicelli and herbs
16.30 a glass of carrot juice
19.00 buckwheat with linseed oil and seaweed salad
Friday
8.00 pudding - CHIA + banana + cinnamon + rice milk
9.00-9.30 millet with raisins and prunes
13.00 cauliflower and potato soup + with salt and olive oil and bread
16.30 homemade oatmeal cookies, a glass of fresh orange juice
19:00 barley porridge with carrots and onions
Saturday
8.
00 apple
9.00-9.30 cheesecakes (without eggs) with raisins and sour cream
13.00 green soup - broccoli, peas, celery
16.30 carrot cake (without eggs)
19.00 rice noodles with linseed oil and vegetable salad
Sunday
8.00 banana
9.00-9.30 sandwich - gluten-free rye bread edge with butter, mozzarella cheese, tomato and spinach leaves
13.00 homemade pizza with vegetables
16.30 apple, carrot
19.00 salad with fresh tomatoes, avocado and herbs
Health to all and bon appetit!
Alina Shidlovskaya,
mother of two children
Alina Shidlovskaya
Share
0005
Vegetarian nutrition for children: the basics | Vegetarian.ru
Repost
It's one thing to be an adult vegetarian, it's another thing to plan to raise your children as a vegetarian.
It is no longer surprising today that adults turn to plant-based diets for a variety of reasons—ethical, environmental, or physiological—but many continue to believe that it is impossible to raise healthy children without a “reliable” diet of meat and potatoes.
The first thing we hear from kind relatives and friends is the question: “But what about squirrels ?!”
Prejudice is rampant when it comes to the vegan diet.
However, the truth is that children can grow and develop perfectly if they exclude not only meat, but also dairy products from their diet.
There is one “but” here: you need to pay close attention to certain nutrients that may be missing in a diet that excludes animal proteins.
Before talking about “what’s missing” in a plant-based diet, it’s important to first note that there are numerous health benefits that come from a predominantly plant-based diet – especially when it serves as an alternative to unhealthy foods.
such as processed meat produced on agro-farms. Normal blood pressure, low blood cholesterol, minimal risk of cardiovascular disease, and optimal body mass index are often viewed as the benefits of a vegan and vegetarian diet.
In these days, when childhood obesity is becoming an epidemic, these benefits of a plant-based diet should be taken seriously. Avoiding meat or meat and dairy products requires knowledge of the basics of a healthy diet and an understanding of which food substitutes and supplements to use. If you are a responsible parent of a vegetarian or vegan child, then you need to prioritize the following nutrients.
Proteins
The perennial preoccupation with proteins is not really justified and is not the most pressing problem faced by vegetarian and vegan families. The fact is that the need of the child's body for proteins is by no means as great as is often believed. Infants need 10g of protein per day, preschool children about 13g, primary school children about 19-34g per day, and teens about 34-50g.
Proteins are found in many vegetable (beans, nuts, tofu, soy milk) and dairy products. Of course, not all proteins are equal, but by combining grains and legumes, you can easily get the required amount of protein on the basis of a purely plant-based diet.
Iron
Iron is found in fortified breads and cereals, dried fruits, leafy vegetables, soy milk, tofu, and beans. Since iron from plant sources (non-heme iron) is more difficult for the body to absorb, it is important to ensure that children take foods containing iron along with vitamin C, which helps the body absorb iron.
Vitamin B12
While concerns about protein tend to be overblown, there are good reasons to take children's B12 intake seriously, as long as they don't consume animal products. Vegetarians get enough of this vitamin from milk, but because there are no plant sources of B12, vegans need to include fortified foods such as bread and cereals, fortified nutritional yeast, and soy milk in their diet.
Calcium
Calcium is especially important for the development of the child's body. Vegetarians who consume dairy products get enough calcium. Calcium-rich foods: Dairy products, leafy vegetables, fortified orange juice, and some soy products. Vegan children require calcium supplements.
Vitamin D
Sources of vitamin D include fortified cereals, orange juice, and cow's milk. However, regular sun exposure is sufficient to ensure that children's bodies receive vitamin D. Vegan families should pay close attention to signs of vitamin D deficiency (asthma, respiratory disease, weakened muscles, depression) and give children appropriate nutritional supplements.
Omega-3 fatty acids
Fats are essential for brain development, and children's high energy expenditure during outdoor play means their bodies burn fat at a rapid rate. Fat sources include flaxseed, tofu, walnuts, and hempseed oil.
Zinc
Zinc deficiency is not a serious threat to vegetarian families, but plant-based zinc is much more difficult to absorb than animal-based zinc.
