Pediatric Nutrition & Health and Food Science
New vegetarian and vegan diets
Domenica Elia,Teresa Capriati, Valentina Papa, Antonella Diamanti
Unità Operativa Semplice di Nutrizione Artificiale, Ospedale Pediatrico “Bambino Gesù”, IRCCS, Roma
A vegetarian diet has been show to be associated with lower risks of metabolic disease and lower prevalence of obesity. A well balanced lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet can satisfy all nutritional needs of the growing child. In contrast, a vegan diet, excluding all animal food sources, has at least to be supplemented with vitamin B12, with special attention to adequate intakes of calcium and zinc and energy dense foods containing enough high-quality protein for young children.