Vegetarian diet associated with higher odds of underweight in children
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Children who consumed a vegetarian diet showed similar growth and nutritional measures compared with their meat-eating peers but were more likely to be underweight, according to a study.
The cohort study, published in Pediatrics, was conducted by researchers in Canada as part of the TARGet Kids! research network, meant to examine eating habits and nutrition in children.
Children who consumed a vegetarian diet showed similar growth and nutritional measures compared with their meat-eating peers but were more likely to be underweight, according to a study. Source: Adobe Stock
“We hypothesized that vegetarian diet in childhood would be associated with lower growth, iron and vitamin D stores because of lower total caloric intake, lower heme-iron intake from animal-based foods, and reduced vitamin D from fortified cow’s milk,” they wrote. “However, because of lower intake of saturated fat from animal foods, we also hypothesized that children with vegetarian diet would have lower serum lipids.”
The study included 8,907 children aged 6 months to 8 years living in Toronto. From 2008 to 2019, researchers studied the children’s weight status, height, micronutrient stores and serum lipids, following each child for an average of 2.8 years.
A total of 248 children were vegetarian at baseline, including 25 who identified as adhering to a vegan diet. At each appointment, research assistants interviewed participants and their parents to collect demographic information, exposure and outcome data.
Ultimately, the researchers found that children who adhered to vegetarian diets had higher odds of underweight (OR = 1.87; 95% CI, 1.19- 2.96) but no association with overweight or obesity was found.
The study also found that children who consumed cow’s milk had higher cholesterol levels than children who did not drink cow’s milk, but children with and without a vegetarian diet who consumed the recommended 2 cups of cow’s milk per day had similar serum lipids. Because being underweight is an indicator of undernutrition, the authors emphasized the need for special care when planning the diets of vegetarian children.
“Guidelines currently differ on the adequacy of vegetarian diet in childhood,” they wrote. “In this study, we did not find evidence of clinically meaningful differences in growth or biochemical measures of nutrition for children with vegetarian diet.”