A well-planned vegetarian diet provides all the calories, protein, vitamins and minerals needed for growth and development.  This handout will help you plan such a diet for your child.

Vegetarian diets are usually named for the foods that are eaten.

• Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat plants, dairy products and eggs, but avoid all red meat, fish, and poultry.
• Lacto vegetarians eat plants and dairy products but avoid eggs, red meat, fish and poultry.
• Vegans eat only plant foods; they avoid all foods of animal origin including meats, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products.
• Pesco-vegetarians eat dairy products, eggs and fish.
• People who avoid red meats refer to themselves as semi-vegetarians.

Because a vegan diet is much more limited in food choices, it takes more planning than the lacto-ovo or lacto vegetarian diets to assure that it provides all essential nutrients.

The following nutrients deserve attention in vegetarian diets:

Children following vegetarian diets may have a hard time getting enough calories and protein for normal growth and development because many vegetarian diets are high in fiber. A high fiber diet may cause a child to feel full more quickly. To estimate how much fiber your child needs, take their age (in years) and add 5. For example, a child that is 7 years old needs 12 grams of fiber daily because 5+7=12.

It is usually not a problem for a child to get sufficient calories if he/she is routinely drinking milk and/or eating cheese products.  Other options to increase calories and protein include:

• Add avocados, olives, and salad dressings to dishes.
• Use nuts and seeds in cooking (care should be used if giving nuts and/or seeds to children under 5 years of age to prevent choking).
• Offer granola cereals and dried fruits.
• Use dried beans and peas in stews, casseroles, and soups.
• Use cream cheese and nut butters on breads, vegetables and fruits.

**It is also important to note that a vegetarian diet that contains too many full fat dairy products and refined starches may be too high in calories and too low in fiber.

Your body needs complete proteins for building and maintaining body tissues.  Complete proteins contain all of the needed building blocks called amino acids.

• Animal proteins are complete because they contain all of the necessary amino acids in the amounts needed by the body.
• Plant proteins are not complete as they do not have enough of one or more of these amino acids.

Carefully selected foods will complement each other to form a complete protein.  For example, when plant proteins are eaten in combination with proteins of animal origin, such as milk or eggs, or when different plant proteins are eaten together, the foods will complement each other to form a complete protein. These proteins do not have to be eaten at the same meal. Eat a variety of grains and legumes throughout the day for adequate protein.

Milk and other dairy products are the most common source of calcium. Some dark green vegetables, such as kale, spinach and greens, contain calcium.  However, not all of this calcium is available to your body; oxalates in these foods bind calcium so it is not absorbed.  Almonds, filberts and legumes also contain fair amounts of calcium.  Calcium fortified soy or rice milk, juices, cereals, and pastas are also a good addition to a vegan diet.

Children have high iron requirements.  The iron in plant foods is not absorbed as well as that in animal foods.  However, there are good non-meat sources of iron including:

• Legumes
• Whole or enriched grains and cereals
• Dried fruits
• Dark green, leafy vegetables

It is wise to include a vitamin C food at each meal to increase iron absorption.  Cooking with non-enameled cast iron pans may also help improve iron intake.  Infant cereals are a good source of iron and should be offered until about 18 months of age.

Zinc Content of Selected Foods