The best gift we can give our children is healthy nutrition from the start. I am a pediatrician because I strongly believe in prevention, and healthy nutrition is the best way to set our children up for healthy lives as adults. Habits start when children are young, and taste preferences form in infancy. I love being able to speak to parents about starting their babies on solids. If babies and toddlers grow up eating a wide variety of healthy foods, they will continue those healthy eating habits throughout their lives.
In this post, I’d like to share the health benefits of plant-based diets for children. Essentially, the more you can incorporate whole, unprocessed plant foods into your children’s diets, the better. Many of my patients, particularly adolescents, are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. And many children are already developing the beginnings of the chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, etc) we commonly see when people eat the Western Pattern Diet.
The Western Pattern Diet includes frequent consumption of animal foods (meat and dairy), highly refined grains (white breads/pancakes/waffles/bagels, pasta and rice) and ultra-processed and sugary foods (chips, sugary breakfast cereals, candy, cookies, ice cream, etc). Children who eat the Western Pattern Diet have fatty streaks in their arteries (atherosclerosis) by age 10. These fatty streaks are the beginnings of heart disease. Our nutrition habits as children can influence whether and how quickly we develop certain chronic diseases as adults.
More people are learning about whole food plant-based diets thanks to documentaries such as “Forks Over Knives” and books like “How Not to Die”. Dr. Michael Gregor discusses the evidence behind plant-based nutrition and has a wealth of information on his web site, nutritionfacts.org.
While the recommendations in this and similar documentaries and books present an all or nothing approach, making small step-by-step changes can be very helpful for our children’s health. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. My goal in this post is to present the health benefits of a plant-centered diet and emphasize the safety of a well-planned plant-based diet for children of all ages.
In addition to preventing chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, eating more plant-based foods affects whether our children develop many of the diseases of childhood.
- Eating more fruits and vegetables has been associated with a decreased risk of asthma
- Plant-based diets are rich in healthy vitamins and minerals which promote a healthy immune system, thereby reducing the risk of infections
- Plant-based diets are rich in fiber which decreases the risk of many diseases we see in children (and adults). Specifically, a high fiber diet decreases the risk of constipation (and subsequent bladder infections related to constipation), heartburn, menstrual cramps, inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and crohns) and irritable bowel syndrome
Additional Reading and Learning
- Nourish is a recently published book (November 2020) written by a pediatrician and a dietician that very thoroughly describes the myriad benefits of eating more plant-based foods, explains the evidence behind their recommendations, provides clear dietary guidelines and includes a section with recipes.
- Pediatric Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide is a briefer informational guide written by pediatricians and dieticians discussing the health benefits of a plant-based diet with practical tips on how to feed your children, also including recipes.
- Veggie Doctor Radio Podcast is an upbeat, educational podcast featuring Washington-based pediatrician Dr. Yami and a wide range of guests.
- The Physicians Commitee for Responsible Medicine on good nutrition for kids