Into the mouths of babes

Vegetarian Times, Sept, 1998 by Norine Dworkin

Raising your kids vegetarian is the best thing you'll ever do for them.

God bless Dr. Spock.

The legacy of the late Benjamin Spock, M.D., foremost authority on all things parental, won't just be the no-nonsense information he dispensed for 40 years to nervous moms and dads. No, America's favorite pediatrician will also be remembered for sparking one heck of a debate on the health benefits of a vegetarian diet for children.

Before his death last March at age 94, the good doctor revised the seventh edition of his definitive Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care (Pocket Books, 1998), a book outsold only by the Bible. Among his final words: Rear children on a plant-based diet devoid of dairy products after the age of 2.

Spock, who recovered from chronic bronchitis after adopting a vegetarian diet himself at 88, had come to believe that if children did the same, they would be less likely to develop weight problems and contemporary lifestyle diseases, like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. He also believed that meat and dairy don't provide optimal nutrition for children and that they actually aggravate many childhood ailments, such as ear infections, digestive disorders and respiratory problems. "Research shows us very clearly that vegetables, grains, beans and fruits should take center stage," Spook wrote, "They provide the nutrition children need to grow and avoid the cholesterol and animal fat that can cause so many problems. My siblings and I were given no red meat until we were 12 years of age, and we were all healthy. We should have continued to avoid meat through adolescence and adulthood."

For vegetarians, this was welcome, if unsurprising, news. After all, the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle for people, animals and the environment have been known in this country for decades. A rich collection of studies have demonstrated that vegetarians do live longer and have significantly reduced risks of major diseases and obesity. Prominent physicians like Dean Ornish, Charles Attwood, and Neil Barnard have all publicly promoted the health advantages of a plant-based diet.

But coming from Spock, it was different. This was America's most trusted baby guru encouraging everyone to jump on the vegetarian bandwagon bound for good health. At last, it seemed, the debate over meatless eating was over. Going veg was the most important step parents could take to safeguard their children's long-term health. Thus spake Dr. Spock.

Then came the fireworks.

Within two weeks of the book's publication last June, The New York Times ran two articles debunking Spock's advice, calling it hazardous to children. Members of the conventional medical community lined up to shoot down his recommendations. "Absolutely insane," T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., railed in the Times when asked to comment. A prominent child behavior specialist with Boston City Hospital, Brazelton adamantly insisted that meat and dairy are critical for childhood development. Michael Georgiess, M.D., professor of pediatrics and child development at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis echoed that sentiment, warning that vegetarian kids faced "very significant risks." Johanna Dwyer, a nutrition expert at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, added, "We should be sticking to dietary changes that have demonstrable health benefits, like those outlined in the [U.S. Department of Agriculture's] food pyramid."

As the controversy raged, all the old, familiar misconceptions about vegetarianism got a fresh airing: That meat and dairy are essential for good health; a vegetarian diet doesn't provide the nutrients children require; meatless cooking is a hassle; and kids won't eat a vegetarian diet because they don't like the food and fear being different from their peers.

Since classically trained physicians receive almost no formal nutrition training, they cling to these outdated views. (Of the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools, just 32 require students to take nutrition courses; and another 50 offer it as an elective.)

As science helps us to better understand the role that food plays in health and longevity, these misconceptions are slowly going the way of the rotary dial phone. The American Dietetic Association supports a vegetarian diet for children. So does the National Academy of Sciences and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. We are indebted to Dr. Spock for the opportunity to restate the facts about the nutritional soundness--and life-long health benefits--of a vegetarian diet for children. So, here we go. Once again, from the top.

MISCONCEPTION #1

Children need animal products.

No, they don't. Meat and dairy products may be cornerstones of the standard American diet, but that doesn't mean they're good for us. Meat is a source of protein, necessary for muscle and tissue growth. But meat also contains a lot of things that kids should do without: steroids, hormones, antibiotics, not to mention high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol (meat is the leading source of saturated fat in the American diet). The same is true of dairy products. A significant source of calcium, they, too, come with high levels of saturated fat and cholesterol--milk is the second leading source of saturated fat--and contain antibiotics, pesticides and hormones. "These are all known health hazards," says Richard DeAndrea, M.D., medical director for California Universal Healthcare, a complementary health clinic in Los Angeles. "They are chemical constituents that disrupt the body's immune system and hormonal balance."