Child Abuse not to feed a child meat....?
By babykay
@babykay (2131)
Ireland
March 2, 2007 9:10pm CST
Recently I was at my family doctor and he checked my 9 month old son and said my son seemed healthy. As part of this, he asked me what I feed him and I gave him a typical day's menu, which includes breastmilk and some solids, mostly fruit and vegetables, pureed. "What, no meat? " he asked. "No" I replied, "I'm a vegetarian" to which he spluttered "this is blatant child abuse". When I asked him why he thought this, the doctor said that I had given my baby no choice and just decided against his will to make him a vegetarian. I conceded the truth of this but pointed out that my child will in the future be able to make decisions around his diet for himself and that no babies have choices regarding their diets. The doctor then said that he needed meat in order to fight infections and I pointed out the millions of people in India who provide ample evidence that lack of meat in the diet can not be attributed to an inability to fight infection. I will not bore anyone with the further details of the conversation but you get the picture. So, does anyone think it is child abuse (blatant no less), to exclude meat from the child or baby's diet?
19 people like this
50 responses
@eden32 (3973)
• United States
3 Mar 07
Absolutely not- your pedi was completely out of line. I am sure as a vegetarian yourself you pay close attention to making sure your diet is complete & balanced.Providing your child with ample & healthy foods is what matters.
You really should consider switching doctors, this doctor is not going to be able to care for your son if he has such radically different ideas than you have. He'll be blaming every sniffle your son has on his diet.
5 people like this
@JC1969 (1224)
• United States
3 Mar 07
As long as you are encouraging a diet that is healthy, and despite the lack of nutrients he would get from meat, you have been able to supplement that with other same nutrients just not in meat form, then keep doing what you are doing. I am glad that you will allow your child to make the choice to be a vegetarian or not when he is older. I don't consider what you are doing as child abuse. You are a vegetarian and so I am sure you've done your homework and you know how to balance your own diet so that you still receive the daily required minerals, nutrients, and vitamins without meat.
My daughter is a Vegetarian, she made the choice when she was 14, and is now 16. I've never really included meat (beef anyway) in our diets on a large scale to begin with.
3 people like this
@freesoul (3021)
• Egypt
3 Mar 07
I think this is absurd, it is proven that vegetarianism is a healthy lifestyle and for the matter of forcing a choice on the child it then would be an abuse to raise a child as a Christian, Jew or whatever.. It's normal that parents raise their kids according to their own lifestyle and when the kids grow up they can choose and adopt to whatever they think best for them..
@lucie225 (157)
• United States
3 Mar 07
So he now has the rights to interfer with your beliefs? That is not child abuse. Man people kill me. You as the parent as long as the child is healthy, dont worry about it. My daughter CHOSE to be a vegetarian when she was about 8 years old, she is 17 healthy and still in great health. That was her choice and though I get lots of critism for it why do I want to make her eat something she does not want to because she thinks it is wrong. I just blow it off. If the doc was such a car giver, he would have never said that to you.
2 people like this
@katyzzz (2897)
• Australia
10 Mar 07
No, but a s a vegetarian you must ensure the diet has sufficient protein. for a baby this would require some solid references.
at 9 months many babies are still fed as you feed yours, I don't really think this is such a big issue at this age.
Has your child been healthy?
1 person likes this
@brokentia (10389)
• United States
3 Mar 07
If the doctor would have simply stated the benefits of your child eating meat and left it at that, then I would not be so upset at this doctor.
Being vegetarian is like a religion. It is a matter of beliefs and personal preference. I do NOT see it as abuse. And I am sure that if my mother would have fed me nothing but veggies, I would have been a much happier child.
Mind you, this does not mean that I eliminate meat completely as an adult. But I am not able to digest all meat. Particularly red meats...I have a system that rejects it and as a child, my mother would force it upon me and it would cause me to vomit. I have learned to control it by stopping before I get to the point of vomiting. And if I say I truly can not eat anymore...my partner knows I am at that verge. The leanest meat is tolerated more.
Point is...I see nothing wrong with you feeding your child only veggies and fruits. As long as your child is healthy and not defiant, then I see no problem!
I would say...get another doctor. And if the India people do not have a problem...seek an Indian doctor. :)
1 person likes this
@mikeyr6000le (2123)
• United States
5 Mar 07
No, I don't think that would be child abuse. That doctor seems to be out of line there. How can be deciding a childs eating habits be child abuse, especially since it isn't really a bad one. Now if you were shoving fast food down his throught or something like that, that's a different story. He is only 9 months old. If he wants meat latter let him try it. If he likes it then let it be his choice to eat it.
1 person likes this
@koikoikoi (1246)
• United States
3 Mar 07
Well it kind of is when you don't give the kid a choice and just assume he won't like it. That's like preparing his whole life and not giving him a say in what he wants to do. And he might be healthy now but in the future he might not be the same, all boney and he's going to be missing a lot of minerals and vitamins from his diet. So I would say yes it is abuse.
1 person likes this
@babykay (2131)
• Ireland
4 Mar 07
You seem to be misinformed. Meat contains protein and fat. This is readily available from other sources. The western diet is very high in both. Red meat contains iron. Other than that, any kind of meat is not a rich source of vitamins. Otherwise many million of people in India and Sri Lanka as well as vegetarians in other parts of the world would be deficient in minerals and vitamins. Did you not study basic biology or food science in school perhaps?
Also, I am not assuming my child will not like meat, I am not feeding it to him as I believe this is the best for him. If he decided to eat meat at a later date this is fine by me.
@Foxxee (3651)
• United States
5 Mar 07
I guess all doctors have different advice. My sons doctor told me not to give him meat at 9 months. He wanted me to stick with formula more then anything and cereal.
Now that my son is 14 months, yes, his doctor has asked me to start him on meat and I have no problem with that, but it should be a parents choice.
So, if you don't eat meat, then I don't see the problem with you not wanting to feed your son meat. Vegetarians are healthy people.
Maybe you should get more advice from another doctor?
Good luck!
@kathy77 (7486)
• Australia
3 Mar 07
No I do not believe that due to you not giving your son meat that this is child abuse at all, to exclude the meat from their diets. It is up to the mother and you are supplying everything else to the baby that the baby requires so I definately would say no and that you are doing the right thing and when the baby grows up your son can decide for himself.
2 people like this
@ScrappinHappyMom (914)
• United States
3 Mar 07
Time for a new doctor, if I were you I would try to find a vegan doctor. As he/she will better know what your family needs. Plus if you are true vegan there are many medications that you would not want to take because they use animal fat and other things in the medication. I think it only makes sense to choose a doctor who is in your own lifestyle.
1 person likes this
@tinam13 (839)
• United States
3 Mar 07
no, of course not, there are tons of foods that ur kid cant eat that have protein in them. proteins helps fight infections, yea but that doesnt necesarily mean he has to have meat to get it. the doctor obviously objects against ur lifestyle and diet u chose. babies cant choose for themselves their parents do it and until they can make their own decision, i think its only child abuse if u are FORCING him to have a vegitarian diet.
1 person likes this
@_hope_ (3902)
• Australia
3 Mar 07
i really don`t think your dr even knows what he is even talking about my children were well over twelve months before even being introduced to meat and then it was very minimal as they preferred vegetables any way .Seeing you are a vegetarian you know which foods contain the protien your child needs and as long as he is healthy there is no need to introduce something you don`t want to
@katisaurus (1038)
• Canada
3 Mar 07
I wouldn't be calling it child abuse, but I think, even though you're a vegetarian, you should be giving him meat to get proper nutrients, particularly protein. Just for the purpose of allowing him to grow up healthy. But I guess it's your choice in the end as long as you're giving him all the vitamins/nutrients he needs to grow up strong and healthy.
1 person likes this
@Cephoozee (373)
• United States
6 Mar 07
Umm, no it is in no way child abuse, I think the doctor is just mad because you don't feed your child meat because "you" are a vegetarian, you know? He most likely disagrees with it and doesn't want it to forced on the child, which, in my eyes, would be child abuse, lol, I love meat! ^.^ Tell that doc to screw off. It's your kid, right?
@silvermoonmyst (943)
• United States
3 Mar 07
Not at all, you have a choice to feed your child what you think is best for him, if that includes no meat then that includes no meat. The doctor can sputter and spit all he wants, but he cant peg child abuse on you for that. You are doing what any parent does, deciding what is best for your child, As long as he is getting a well balanced diet then he is going to be fine. And im sure he is, vegitarians are always health concious in their food choices. :)
1 person likes this
@helianthus (14)
• China
3 Mar 07
Child Abuse?Of course not!"Exclude meat from the child or baby's diet",likes a storm in a teacup.Eat meat or not,it depends on personal diet habits.And you know"child in the future be able to make decisions around his diet for himself",that's okay!By the way,there is a famous sentence:You are what you eat! If we eat food which do good to our bodies,we will be healthy.We gain nutritive substances from what we eat everyday....Health is enough~~
Wish you and your family be healthy!
^.^
PS:My English is poor~~If I make some mistakes..Sorry~
@kittles (156)
•
3 Mar 07
Well it was wrong of him to say it was child abuse as it isn't your not starving him or anything. Some doctors think a vegetarian diet for very small children is linked to less brain development or something like that, and as much as I think it's better to give the child meat till it can decide for themselves, aslong as you are giving it the protein it needs there shouldn't be much of a problem and it's more a preference thing and isn't abuse.
1 person likes this
