Into the mouths of babes

Vegetarian Times, Sept, 1998 by Norine Dworkin

Growth hormones used in dairy and meat production, says DeAndrea, are associated with declining age of menstruation (150 years ago, girls menstruated at 17; today they begin at 11), which in turn has been linked with increased rates of breast cancer. "We're seeing this drop in the onset age of puberty in industrialized nations," he says. "But we don't see it in Third World nations, where people don't consume as much meat and dairy and they can't afford to administer hormones to their animals." Stacks of studies have also linked dairy to lactose intolerance, allergies, asthma, digestive problems, diabetes, migraine headaches and, ironically, osteoporosis.

What gets lost in the debate about whether meat and dairy do a body good is that they are neither the best--nor only--sources of these nutrients. Plant proteins contain all of the amino acids required to make up a complete protein, according to a 1990 report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. And dark leafy greens, such as kale, bok choy and broccoli, contain as much absorbable calcium as milk--without the fat, cholesterol or harmful additives.

Provided that they get adequate calories and a good balance of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and soy products, kids do just fine on a meatless diet (see "Frequently Asked Questions"). Research done at Kings College in London, and published in the journal Pediatric Clinics of North America (August 1995), found "higher than average intelligence quotients" among vegetarian children. The China Oxford Cornell Project on Diet, Lifestyle and Disease Characteristics, a wide-spectrum population study conducted in Taiwan since 1983, demonstrated that while Chinese girls raised on a vegan (no animal products) diet mature more slowly than American girls, they do develop to their full expected potential. And a study done by the Centers for Disease Control, published in the journal Pediatrics (September 1989), indicates that vegetarian children are leaner than their meat-eating counterparts by about two and a half pounds, owing to the low levels of saturated fat in a plant-based diet.

Our high-fat, high-cholesterol eating habits have left a wake of health calamities. Recent government statistics say one-half the American adult population is overweight. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in America, claiming nearly 2 million lives a year. Adult-onset (Type II) diabetes affects some 16 million Americans and causes 187,000 deaths annually. Breast and colon cancers (both diet-related) are expected to take 43,500 and 47,700 lives this year, respectively.

These are grim statistics, and as the next generation matures, we can look forward to more of the same. Gorging on burgers, chicken nuggets, fries and shakes, today's children have ballooned into the heaviest in history. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that 10 percent of 4- and 5-year-old girls were overweight as of 1994, the last year for which statistics were available, compared with 5.8 percent in 1974. The numbers are even higher for 6- to 11-year-olds: 13.6 percent overweight as of 1994, compared with 5.5 in 1974. The Bogulusa Heart Study, a 25-year study conducted by Louisiana State University in New Orleans, confirmed that the fatty deposits from saturated fat and cholesterol that lead to heart disease form in arteries by age 3.