Children who eat a vegetarian diet have similar growth and nutrition measures as those who eat meat, according to a new Canadian study, but researchers have a key recommendation for followers of such a diet.
The study, conducted by researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital at Unity Health in Toronto, also found that children on a vegetarian diet were more likely to gain weight. Researchers say this highlights the need for “careful diet planning” for children who eat a vegetarian diet.
The findings were published Monday in the peer-reviewed medical journal Pediatrics.
Dr Jonathan Maguire, lead author of the study and a pediatrician at Unity Health’s St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, says the findings are coming as more Canadians choose to limit the amount of meat they eat.
In 2019, Canada’s Food Guide was updated to reflect the change, including recommendations for including plant proteins such as beans and tofu in your diet instead of meat.
“Over the past 20 years, we have seen a growing popularity of plant-based diets and a changing environment with greater access to plant-based alternatives, but we have not seen research on the nutritional outcomes of children following a vegetarian diet in Canada,” Maguire said in a press release. .
According to the study, researchers looked at data collected from 8907 children aged six months to eight years, between 2008 and 2019. All children were participants in TARGet Kids! a cohort study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation, and the SickKids Foundation.
Participants were categorized by vegetarian status, which the study defines as a “meat-excluding dietary model” or non-vegetarian status.
The study found that children on a vegetarian diet had a “similar average body mass index” (BMI), height, iron levels, vitamin D and cholesterol as the meat group.
According to the researchers, the findings also show that those who eat vegetarian are almost twice as likely to be underweight, defined as below the third BMI percentile.
The study says there is no evidence of an associated vegetarian diet in obese or overweight children.
Researchers say that being underweight is an indicator of malnutrition, which is the result of insufficient energy and nutrients to meet an individual’s needs for good health.
With this in mind, researchers say it is important for children who eat a vegetarian diet to have access to health care providers who can offer growth monitoring, education and guidance to support their nutrition.
Despite the findings, researchers have not evaluated the specific foods that make up vegetarian diets, and say the quality of individual diets “can be quite important for growth and nutritional outcomes.”
The authors of the study say that more research is needed to study the composition of the vegetarian diet in childhood, as well as the results of growth and nutrition among children who follow a vegan diet that excludes meat and animal products such as dairy products and eggs.
While international guidelines and previous studies on the link between vegetarian diets and childhood growth differ, Maguire says the results show that a meat-free diet is nutritionally safe for children.
“Plant-based dietary patterns are recognized as a model of healthy eating due to increased intake of fruits, vegetables, fiber, whole grains and reduced saturated fats; however, few studies have evaluated the impact of vegetarian diets on growth and childhood nutritional status, “he said in a statement.
“Vegetarian diets seem to be appropriate for most children.”
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