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Food & diet

Vegan nutrition, guidelines for children and adolescents and a dedicated clinic

September 26, 2018

Being a vegan no longer has any age limit. A short distance from the publication in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics of the article “VegPlate: a Mediterranean-based Food Guide for Italian Adult, Pregnant, and Lactating Vegetarians”, which illustrated the “PiattoVeg”, the practical guide to develop plant-based diets for adults and pregnant and lactating women, on August 30, the same scientific journal, the most influential scientific body in the world in the field of human nutrition founded in 1917 in Ohio, published the guidelines for plant-based nutrition for children, signed by the same authors. The Academy, born with the mission of improving people’s health, combining scientific research and nutrition education aimed at the public, currently has more than 100,000 nutrition professionals among its members. We talked about this topic with Dr. Silvia Goggi, dietician specialized in Food Science and expert in vegan nutrition at Humanitas Pio X.

 

The indications of the Scientific Society of Vegetarian Nutrition

With the title “Planning well-balanced vegetarian diets in infants, children and adolescents: the VegPlate Junior”, the article presents itself as a practical guide to developing optimal plant-based diets for children, from childhood to adolescence. Among the authors of the article, all members of the Scientific Society of Vegetarian Nutrition (SSNV), Dr. Luciana Baroni, a doctor specializing in Neurology and Geriatrics, Professor Maurizio Battino, associate professor at the Polytechnic University of Marche and director of the Master in Food and Vegetarian Dietetics of the same University and Dr. Silvia Goggi, medical specialist in Food Science in Humanitas San Pio X, where the “Babygreen” clinic dedicated to vegetarian families is active.

 

“The publication of the PiattoVeg Junior method in such a prestigious peer-reviewed international scientific journal is equivalent to recognizing the PiattoVeg method also for children and adolescents as valid guidelines for the formulation of an optimal diet based on plant ingredients for children from weaning, to continue with children and adolescents up to 18 years – explained Dr. Goggi. A further recognition of the ongoing activity of SSNV research and study, scientific dissemination and information, as well as training and updating of nutrition and health professionals.

 

According to its promoters, this guide also shows how, by consuming plant foods of all groups (cereals, legumes and derivatives, nuts and oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, oils) in the quantities suggested for different age groups, it is possible to reach the needs of all nutrients.

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What about milk and eggs? They are not essential for the health of children and adolescents

According to the new vegan guidelines, the intake of dairy products or eggs is superfluous and optional even for children and adolescents. The increasing number of people, who have chosen a vegetarian diet, excluding meat, fish and derivatives from their diet, also demonstrates this.

 

“Families who choose this diet naturally extend it to their children – continued the specialist: most of them are informed and aware parents, but they still find it difficult to find trained and updated professionals on plant nutrition, where unfortunately prejudices and bad information are still widespread. Today in Humanitas it is possible to find a center specialized in this service”.

 

What is the “VegPlate Junior”?

As in the adult version, the VegPlate Junior is graphically represented by a dish, divided into six segments corresponding to the six vegetable food groups: cereals, legumes and derivatives, dried fruit and oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, oils. What immediately catches the eye is the abundance of recommended foods, in contrast to certain descriptions of this diet as restrictive and monotonous. For children aged 6 to 12 months, the graphic representation also includes a seventh segment, that of breast milk or, in its absence, formula milk.

 

For each group, the average size and nutritional composition of a “portion” has been calculated and for the different caloric requirements, the number of portions for each group useful for achieving the adequacy of the diet has been established, i.e. the achievement of nutritional requirements, even those often wrongly indicated as lacking in vegetable-based diets: protein, iron, calcium.

 

Knowing the age of the child or adolescent, following the instructions of the Vegetable Plan dedicated to them, health professionals who follow the child (pediatrician, nutritionist, dietician) can build a perfectly adequate daily or weekly menu in a few minutes without the need to make further calculations. Vitamin B12 is the only nutrient to be taken in the form of a supplement (from bacterial cultures), both in the case of a vegan diet and in the case of a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (on the other hand, even omnivores take it only thanks to supplements added to animal feed). Vitamin D, also represented at the center of the dish, depends on exposure to sunlight and not on the diet: regardless of the dietary model followed, it is a nutrient that should be significantly considered. The foods chosen for the composition of the dish are derived from the Mediterranean tradition, and all are available in our territory. Since today we know that a diet is healthier if it is richer in vegetable foods, VegPlate can serve as a basis for planning any type of diet.

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