On 2016 an Italian deputy presented a bill to sanction parents who provide a vegan diet to their children. The danger was that, according to her, the vegan child was malnourished since it lacked some essential micronutrients.It is normal for vegan families to try to have their children lead a life that is vegan as they consider it healthy and full of advantages. It would be a contradiction from their point of view that they were vegans by conviction regarding the benefits of such a diet while at the same time cooking a steak for their son because someone tells them that if not their son will have health problems. So, why the italian deputy proposed that? Surely it was the result of ignorance.
A child can be a vegan without a problem. Not because be vegan, he or she will be undernourished or suffer from vitamin or mineral deficiencies of any kind, except for vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is only contained in foods of animal origin and unless the vegan person obtains it by other means, it will have a lack of it. If it is not a strict vegan and consumes eggs and milk, in this case the supply of B12 is guaranteed. It is demonstrated that if vitamin B12 is not ingested in the long term, it can cause important damages in our body. If someone thinks that this lack already justifies that the vegan diet is considered dangerous for children, it is in serious error. It is considered that at least 25% of adults over 50 are deficient in B12, so there comes a time in our life, we would vegetarians or not, we should take B12 pills. The big problem is that most non-vegetarian adults do not know anything about B12 with all that it implies for their health.
But as with whole diets, there are vegetarians who eat very bad and do not know it. What's more, they erroneously believe that eating a lettuce a day is healthier than others who eat an ox steak. And it is not true. Both vegetarians and carnivores should eat varied. The greater the amount of different foods consumed, the better our diet will be. A vegan for example can be obese because it consumes a lot of fats from nuts or olive oil. And being obese is just as bad for vegans as it is for omnivores.
So the best thing, if we want our son to be vegan, is to plan his/her diet very well, ideally with the help of a nutritionist. Our vegan son will be well fed if he consumes 20 or 30 varieties of vegetables and fruits apart from the proteins that can give him legumes and fats from some fruits such as avocado, nuts or olive oil. Then it is necessary to evaluate if you are given a vitamin supplement of B12 or you prefer to follow an ovo-lactate diet to get more or less the same.
And since when can they be vegan? Since they are born if so desired. What is essential is that the child take breast milk for its multiple qualities and its beneficial effect on the immune system. If the mother is vegan, she will receive B12 through her, as happened during the 9 months of pregnancy. When starting at 6 months eating solid, you should consult with the pediatrician the amount of B12 that should be given to the baby as a complement to the one that is already receiving through breast milk.
Regarding other nonsense about low levels of iron or folic acid in vegan diets that are so often heard in the forums does not need to talk. I repeat, with a good complement of B12 and a varied diet, the vegan child is as healthy as any other else.