Different households raise children differently. For example, a section of them chooses the vegetarian way of life for their children and their meat-eating peers. A recent poll shows the threat that vegetarians’ kids face. Those kids are highly likely to be underweight.
Research findings
Canadian researchers recently conducted a poll showing the nutrition levels in the different groups. Children that don’t eat meat showcase similar growth patterns to their meat-eating peers. The poll also showed them having similar nutritional levels.
The team at St Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto worked with 8,907 children in its poll, which spanned between 2008 and 2019. The data analysis involved children aged between six months to eight years old.
A pediatrician known as Dr. Jonathon Maguire speaks out on his findings on the popularity of plant-based diets. He also focuses on the changes in the food environment, which continues to give people access to plant-based alternatives. He admits that a lot has happened so far, but this was the first time they focused on the nutritional outcomes of children.
The study sheds light on the impact of the different diets among Canadian children. The main focus is to draw a close comparison between children on vegetarian diets and those that take non-vegetarian diets. The two other groups showcase similarities in biochemical measures of nutrition and growth.
The study shows the vegetarian diet results in underweight children, which implies the need for parents to undertake careful dietary planning practices. In addition, reports indicate the kids involved in the study as having also taken part in another study called TARGet Kids!
Does being underweight pose any dangers?
Researchers noted similarities among children who had a vegetarian diet. Some similar aspects included their average body mass index (BMI), vitamin D, height, iron, and cholesterol levels. The findings give insight into what parents on a healthy pathway to raising children. Children subjected to a vegetarian diet had a high likelihood of being underweight for their age.
Researchers assert that the BMI has its essence in telling where persons of the different weights lie at any time. The underweight falls under the lower third percentile.
