Vitamin [B.sub.12] in the news

Vegetarian Journal, May-June, 2003 by Reed Mangels

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vitamin [B.sub.12] deficiency in two children in Georgia received wide media attention. The children, who were 15 months and 30 months old at the time of their diagnoses, had been breast-fed by mothers who followed vegan or near-vegan diets.

Information on the use of vitamin [B.sub.12] supplements by the mothers and the children was incomplete. If vitamin [B.sub.12] supplements were used at all, they were only used sporadically. Both mothers and their children did not have adequate amounts of vitamin [B.sub.12]. Both children were growing poorly, both were developmentally delayed, and one child had seizures, apparently related to the vitamin [B.sub.12] deficiency.

While it is unfortunate that some media reports suggested that a vegan diet (rather than a lack of vitamin [B.sub.12]) caused these conditions, this report does serve as a reminder of vitamin [B.sub.12]'s importance. All vegans, especially pregnant and lactating women, infants, and children, need a regular source of vitamin [B.sub.12]. Reliable sources include foods fortified with vitamin [B.sub.12], such as some breakfast cereals, meat analogs, soy or rice milk, and nutritional yeast (Vegetarian Support Formula). Vegan infants and young children can also obtain vitamin [B.sub.12] through breast milk from mothers with adequate nutritional status or from infant formula. If it is not possible to meet recommendations for vitamin [B.sub.12] through food, a daily supplement should be taken that contains at least the RDA for vitamin [B.sub.12].

Anon. 2003. Neurologic impalement in children associated with maternal dietary deficiency of cobalamin--Georgia, 2001. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 52:61-4.