A new estimate of young vegetarians was released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The estimation is that approximately 1 in 200 children are vegetarians, and other surveys suggest that the number could be four to six times higher in older teenagers who have more control over their dietary choices. There are many reasons why some children may be choosing a vegetarian diet – chief among them being animal rights or compassion for animals, health reasons, and influence from parents.
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Tags: animal rights, CDC, children, health, teen, vegan, vegetarian
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:44 am
I think that a child or adult for that matter who becomes a vegan must be very diligent and eat very healthfully. I know many very fat and skinny vegans and they look terrible, and their attitudes and energy stink. They look sickly.
I would love if the same people who look at videos about the slaughtering of animals for food; look at videos of innocent unborn humans being slaughtered for all kinds of reasons would be offended and work to stop this kind of barbarism. During a time of extreme knowledge and information, that this sort of thing is still going on and many people don’t care. I wrote to PETA once and agreed with them that the senseless and cruel killing of an innocent creature should be stopped; they agreed until I also told them about my feelings about babies humans; then they told me that this ‘choice’ was something that everyone should be free to make. Well, then that should also be true of people who eat animal meat and other products. It is so sad to me that people care more for animals than people.
I encourage young people to view the new sonogram images of a fetus (greek for unborn child), that show in 3D a complete tiny baby, moving, smiling, sucking fingers etc. Then watch an abortion, these same babies cringe and grimace as their life is cruelly terminated. God helps us all in this upside world.
January 14th, 2009 at 8:32 am
I don’t think it’s really fair or appropriate to compare “innocent unborn humans being slaughtered” to “the slaughtering of animals for food.” You are comparing babies to food; each issue is deserving of attention and concern, and each issue involves intense emotions and opposing opinions on the part of the people involved. Lots of animals in the animal kingdom eat each other. Lions viciously tear apart gazelles, without concern for t he gazelle’s emotional state. We don’t typically eat our own kind. We, as humans, are a higher evolution of creature, and it is a true gift that we can discuss issues surrounding our food supply, and that we can make choices about what we eat for energy and pleasure.
Not everyone has or can have children, but everyone has to eat. Choosing what to eat is a very personal process, and marring the issue with images of abortion and eluding that to issues of choice is not appropriate. It is true that children do not necessarily have a choice in what they eat, vegetarian or not. They also don’t have a choice as to whether or not they live in a secondhand smoke filled home, and to use your example, a choice as to whether or not they are aborted. Children do not make a lot of choices for themselves; this is why they have parents, to make the choices that are best for the family (in theory). Not all parents are great parents.
I don’t think many Americans really respect the animals from which their meat came, and I know that if I had to hunt, kill, and slaughter my own meat, I wouldn’t eat it. There is a need for cultural sensitivity with a family’s choice to pursue a vegetarian lifestyle. Who are we to say whether it is right or wrong? Making adjustments to your diet is difficult, and can certainly be dangerous in terms of nutrition (getting essential vitamins and minerals and the such) and changes should be reviewed by a qualified nutritionist. Please also note how the article says “some children may be choosing a vegetarian diet.”
There is no need to prioritize human eating behavior above or below abortion.
And fetus comes from the Latin fetus, meaning offspring, bringing forth, hatching of young.
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January 14th, 2009 at 8:32 am
I don’t think it’s really fair or appropriate to compare “innocent unborn humans being slaughtered” to “the slaughtering of animals for food.” You are comparing babies to food; each issue is deserving of attention and concern, and each issue involves intense emotions and opposing opinions on the part of the people involved. Lots of animals in the animal kingdom eat each other. Lions viciously tear apart gazelles, without concern for t he gazelle’s emotional state. We don’t typically eat our own kind. We, as humans, are a higher evolution of creature, and it is a true gift that we can discuss issues surrounding our food supply, and that we can make choices about what we eat for energy and pleasure.
Not everyone has or can have children, but everyone has to eat. Choosing what to eat is a very personal process, and marring the issue with images of abortion and eluding that to issues of choice is not appropriate. It is true that children do not necessarily have a choice in what they eat, vegetarian or not. They also don’t have a choice as to whether or not they live in a secondhand smoke filled home, and to use your example, a choice as to whether or not they are aborted. Children do not make a lot of choices for themselves; this is why they have parents, to make the choices that are best for the family (in theory). Not all parents are great parents.
I don’t think many Americans really respect the animals from which their meat came, and I know that if I had to hunt, kill, and slaughter my own meat, I wouldn’t eat it. There is a need for cultural sensitivity with a family’s choice to pursue a vegetarian lifestyle. Who are we to say whether it is right or wrong? Making adjustments to your diet is difficult, and can certainly be dangerous in terms of nutrition (getting essential vitamins and minerals and the such) and changes should be reviewed by a qualified nutritionist. Please also note how the article says “some children may be choosing a vegetarian diet.”
There is no need to prioritize human eating behavior above or below abortion.
And fetus comes from the Latin fetus, meaning offspring, bringing forth, hatching of young.
January 14th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I have been a vegetarian since the age of 3 and have no explanation for it. My entire family are meat eaters. I noticed I was unable to chew meat and the texture discusted me. I used to hide the meat in my pockets until able to throw it away or be caught trying. My parents finally gave up trying to make me eat it. I now have a niece in her 30’s (my brother’s daughter)she looks more like me than my own daughter. Anyway she has also been a vegetarian since a very young age with no particular reason. I work in the medical field and a few years ago worked for a allergy asthma specialist. He decided he wanted to do some skin allery tests on me and low and behold I came up positive for beef, pork and chicken allergies. Maybe nature has a way of protecting us from things that could be harmful by making us dislike the taste and or texture. I have two of my four children (none of whom are vegetarian) that have tried often to like tomatoes. As much as they have tried to eat them they just cannot. I think they may be allergic or sensitive to them. I don’t beleive in forcing children to eat things they are adamant about refusing time and time again.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Yvonne you seem to be of the impression that you have to choose between the sanctity of non-human animal life and that of the human animal. Why? To me your perspective seems absurd, surely you know that religion is merely a figment of the human imagination, fine if you want to engage in it but don’t let it cloud your judgement. I’m neither pro or anti abortion, each to their own and when it concerns the health and mortality of women. Bear in mind that every minute, at least one woman dies from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth – that means 529 000 women a year, so what they do regarding their health and body really is entirely their choice. Forcing pregnancy on women is on par with rape and just as repugnant. The anti abortionists put me off with their ‘for the sake of it’ attitude, they never support the women they want to take the choice away from, they never pay for the upbringing of the child or health care for the woman who has risked her life so I don’t see their argument as very well thought through. It seems to be entirely religious fervour. You also say that vegans look ill, methinks you made that up because I know hundreds of vegans (both fat and thin) who all look very well and all look much younger than their years. I’ve been vegan for 20 years, I am into my 40’s and still get asked to provide ID all the time.
Back to the subject, if you teach a child compassion for other animals they learn to respect the sanctity of all life and respect themselves and others of their species, and they have more respect for diversity. Whereas if you teach them to only respect their group/gang/race/species above others then you just re-enforce selfish values.
I feel that more children are vegetarian/vegan now because the facts surrounding the meat industry are no longer easy to hide, children are not lied to as often any more, and they question more. Both young teens and young children are becoming more aware and as a result more compassionate and have a more realistic view on life. They have made the connection between the violence in the world and the violence enacted on innocent animals who cannot consent or defend themselves. And taste is not a valid excuse for such violence.
Natalie if we are of a higher consciousness than other animals then we should know better and behave like we are higher beings with grace and compassion rather than animals with no moral understanding. Either we’re savage animals which bully and enslave all that is weaker than us, or we are enlightened beings who know better.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
It is possible to be anti-abortion and not be religious. No one has made a religious argument against abortion in this discussion, so it is not necessary to impugn the validity of anyone’s beliefs. Actually, no one has made an anti-choice argument in this discussion either. Yvonne did not mention the law or government at all. She did suggest that concern for unborn human beings is more important than concern for animals raised for food and that ignorance of where our food comes from is less of a concern than ignorance of what happens in an abortion, but clearly she has concern for both.
I agree with those that say that concern for human beings need not preclude concern for animals and that one can lead to the other. I also agree that the our human abilities don’t make us more important than animals. I expect that children raised with compassion for animals (whether they are vegan or eat only humanely raised animal products) will be more responsible adolescents and adults and will be less likely to risk accidental pregnancy. Activists in either area should have great concern for how the way they approach their activism effects their children. Compassion for people whose beliefs are different from theirs and avoiding violence in their spirits and in their means must be an important part of the work.
Being strongly pro-choice does not preclude compassion for the unborn. It is possible to be anti-abortion and pro-choice, that is, to believe that abortion should be an option of extreme last resort, and that it is none of the government’s business. The problem with denying a woman the right to choose an abortion is that requiring her to spend nine months carrying the child and requiring her to endure labor is involuntary servitude, that is, slavery. That doesn’t make it wrong to try to convince her – in an ethical, non-harassing, compassionate way – to carry it, or to talk with young people about responsibility, or to advocate for effective education about contraception, or to show videos of abortion to those who choose to watch them, or whatever. The problem is that the law cannot get involved in telling a woman to continue an unwanted pregnancy without violating one of the most important rights in the Bill of Rights. It is a problem that illustrates the limitations of government and points to the need for us all to take responsibility for ourselves and our choices.
I used the word slavery. Sally used the word rape. These are very strong words, but forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy is a violation of her physical being, so it isn’t just that essential laws are in conflict, it’s that the decision to or not to abort a fetus is always a choice between one life and another. If the government can’t force the choice, then activism against abortion can only be work for a more compassionate world in which the circumstances in which abortion is considered are less common and in which the choice to complete a pregnancy but not raise the child, which makes a woman’s choice public, will be supported and not stigmatized, regardless of the circumstances of the pregnancy.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Someone’s going to correct me, so I’ll say it first. I forgot for a moment that only the original Constitutional Amendments were called the Bill of Rights, and the amendment against slavery came later.
Someone may also want to say that it isn’t possible to humanely raise animals for food. That’s another debate. I was just saying that children can be raised with compassion for animals without necessarily being vegan.