Over the past two decades, scientific and professional nutrition and pediatric associations

have issued official statements and published position papers about adopting vegan diets

during crucial life stages, including pregnancy and lactation, infancy, and childhood.

While some of these associations firmly agree a well-designed vegan diet can be healthy and support normal growth and development,

others are more reserved, and some caution against vegan diets for children.

Those that are supportive include the American Dietetic Association,

which has held this position for more than 25 years, as well as professional associations in

Australia, Canada, Portugal, Italy, the UK, Finland, Germany, and Norway, and Europe more broadly.

More reserved opinions also came out of the UK and Europe, including Spain,

and downright dismissive positions have come out of Slovenia, Germany, Italy, France, and Belgium.

What does the evidence say about vegan diets and children?

Part of the challenge starts at the very beginning, with the exclusion of pregnant people

from clinical trials in general. With such compelling needs, why are pregnant women

largely excluded from clinical research? Often due to ethical concerns, dominated by fears of fetal

harm. Even non-pregnant women of reproductive age often have to commit to contraception during

the research period, and those who become pregnant must leave the study with their data excluded.

That all adds up to a lack of clinical trial data on pregnant women.

Paradoxically, these precautionary measures may not have made

pregnant moms or their babies safer because of the resulting lack of evidence.

Some of the commentary around vegan diets for children includes the same concern about the lack

of data. One researcher stated, in children, we do not have many good quality studies, and the studies we

do have come mostly from vegetarian children, and they are of very, varying quality.

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