You will say: children love hot dogs and hamburgers so much. That's right, first of all they love taste of seasonings. All four children of Paul McCartney are nee vegetarians, and younger, James, is even vegan! Sir Paul likes to remember, how his daughter Stella was proud at elementary school that her conscience towards animals is completely clear!
There are nations in the world where people over a whole life have never tried or practically never tried to eat meat. It is India, for example, and mainly the states where Buddhism or Hinduism prevail. And it is ok, they are safe and sound, moreover, they are devoid of many modern civilisation illnesses.
The well-known Isadora Duncan told the following about her pupils at German dancing school: «Children do unusual progress. And I am sure that they are obliged to the vegetarian ration brought by doctor Goffom for their health».
The Ministry of Agriculture of the USA and the American Association of Dieticians has ascertained that children who eats vegetarian food, are much more healthy and hardy then peers. It is rumoured that children-vegetarians grow very slowly and are slow to grasp, but facts scientifically confirmed indicate the opposite. Such children take the lead over “correctly eating" peers in physical and intellectual development for a whole year! «The magazine of the American dietary association» reported that mentality coefficient of young vegetarians is 17 points above an average.
In case child eats vegetarian food since childhood, puberty comes a little after an average (taking into account an acceleration), but it is for the best. The fact of the matter is that if puberty comes too early, this often leads to oncological diseases. In particular, for girls who do not eat meat the risk of breast cancer decreases in 4 times.
Doctors often forced to establish the sad fact: by preschool age child has atherosclerotic adjournment on arteries. This doesn’t work for children-vegetarians. For people who eat vegetarian food since childhood, the probability of cardiovascular diseases decreases in 10 times!
It is hard to find a child who is not suffering from colds, ear infections, who don’t have stomach aches. As soon as child goes to a day nursery or a kindergarten – it begins… But there can be much less of such troubles. For this purpose it is only necessary to stop giving a meat which poisoning a gentle organism with toxins to a child! The well-known American doctor-naturopath Herbert Shelton told in this respect the following: «It is natural, that neither meat, nor a meat bouillon, nor eggs can ever be given to a child till 7-8 years. At this age child still does not have forces for neutralisation of toxins».
Children-vegetarians are much less undergoing stresses. Even in one of Moscow schools for children, suffering from neurologic deviations, vegetarian nutrition was imposed. And the result was splendid. All indicators remained within the norm, but character of patients became much more steady only a year later.
Unfortunately, even now we have to hear that meatless diet brings iron-deficient anaemia and that iron contained in vegetable products badly digests. But truth is that the vitamin C containing only in vegetatable products is necessary for iron digestion. Therefore vegetarians including children-vegetarians do not suffer, contrary to a popular belief, from this illness.
In the past vitamin В12 was considered to be available only in meat now was found in vegetable products - in soya cheese and in sea seaweed. Besides, it is synthesised in our organism. Russian scientifically-practical Center of a vegetarian society researched settlement of vegans in Siberia and didn’t find deficiency of this vitamin at anybody including children who had never tried animal food!
The next question is protein. Child can receive all necessary proteins from vegetable products, - nuts, bean, rice, soya products. With the only difference that vegetable proteins, unlike animal proteins, do not reduce from the body the major chemical element calcium which is essential for organism development! That is why leading authorities, such as the American academy of pediatrists, consider saying «children should drink milk to be healthy!» as a lie.
Besides, dairy products often promote development of a horrible disease of children - diabetes of 1 type (it is form when daily injections of insulin are necessary)! In certain cases organism of a child perceives milk as an alien substance, and, to get rid of it, starts to produce antibodies. These antibodies also destroy cells which produce insulin in a pancreas what conduce to diabetes. In Finland wh ere the consumption level of dairy products by children is the highest, the diabetes of 1 type occurs with 40 persons of 100 000 (that is almost 0,5 percent). And on the opposite, in Cuba and in Northern Korea wh ere children don’t drink enough of milk or don’t drink it at all, this disease practically does not meet.
Worldwide famous doctor Spock practically always admitted that vegetarianism was healthy for children. At first he was convinced that milk was necessary for the child, but in last edition of his best seller «Baby and child care» (1998) he said with all straightforwardness that he didn’t support milk in children diet.
Vegetarian child care centers are norm in the West by this time. Gradually they start to conquer Russia. Several years ago appeared a new textbook “For children about right nutrition” by Pavlova T.N., it was recommended for use at schools by the previous mayor of Moscow.
Now we suggest you to familiarise with the opinion of well-known Italian podiatrist Luchano Proietti, children’s surgeon with more than twenty years practice, distinguished expert of children’s macrobiotics and sanitation and the father of three children. In the new book «Children - vegetarians» he tells about results of last researches conducted at the Auxology Centre of the Pediatric Clinic at the Unviersity of Turin in cooperation with the Italian vegetarian association (AVI), Scientific association of a vegetarian nutrition (SSNV) and the Centers of natural childbirth.
Since 1975 Luchano Proietti directed by prof. Lodovico Benso participated in the first extensive researches in Italy about influence of vegan and vegetarian food on auxological development of children by the use of the analysis of two thousand children who grown with lacto vegetarian, dairy-vegetarian and vegan nutrition at least till three years; consequently it was ascertained that the diet without animal protein, not only answers requirements of norms of nutrients consumption recommended before, but also was acknowledged as the most favourable for normal physical development of children, first of all in first two-three years of his life.
«This kind of food should be a guideline for children in understanding of importance to respect other living creatures and environment as a whole; therefore veganism is an enormous investment to the health of the whole society», - doctor Proietti says. According to the professor, the most suitable food for babies is mother's milk foreseen by the nature which contains all nutrients necessary for development. Fruits and vegetables introduced too early as additional food for babies cause malfunction in digestion and reduce organism absorbability of necessary vitamins and minerals. Dairy products irritate a mucous membrane, it causes problems with intestines and provides loss of iron what leads to an anaemia; and the use of animal origin products is at the bottom of such diseases as acidosis, phlegm, fever, sore throat, otitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis and many other inflammations. Luchano Proietti is convinced that the eutrophy should consist of cereals, bean, vegetable fats (olive, sesame and linen oils), dried fruits, seeds, fruits and vegetables.
The reason why majority of doctors don’t recommend vegan diet is concealed first of all in cultural and economic roots. Our environment is not ready to accept it. Because of severe misinformation at all levels pediatrists are afraid to mistakes that can brought them to court. That is why they consider usage of meat for food as safer variant in spite of the fact that it leads to adiposity and many other serious diseases. In 1995 the American Academy of Pediatrics declared that balanced vegan diet was full-fledged for children and helped to prevent many illnesses. But certainly, the meat-and-milk and pharmaceutical industries financing researches wouldn’t start to publish the results which testimonial not for their advantage. To make truthful statements about results of this researches on television means to dispatch this entire industrial sector to resignation. I was repeatedly recommended not to speak about these on television, parts with my performances were quite often cut out from records and then I did not receive invitations to such events again. But I always consider that truth anyway would come to light, though, of course, time would be needed. At first the scientific data should be accepted in academic circles, then - among practising doctors, and at last – by all other people. Anyway, during recent thirty years there was a considerable conversion to a new kind of nutrition. Today everybody advises to eat as much vegetative products as possible and less food of an animal origin. We will continue to give trustworthy information and so it will little by little reach everyone ", - the doctor declared.