The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Eating for Kids - M.s.j., Dana Villamagna [5]
The good news is, most of these illnesses can be avoided—or even reversed—through dietary changes, especially a vegan diet. It’s up to us parents to stock our fridges and pantries with good nutrition for our children and teach them about healthful eating so they can make the right choices when they’re away from home or at school.
Have a Heart
The only thing kids’ hearts should be full of is love. But clogged arteries are a reality for far too many American kids. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggested medications to lower the “bad” type of cholesterol,LDL (low-density lipoprotein), for thousands of children whose levels are too high.
Vegan Vocab
Cholesterol is a fat found in all animal fats and oils. It can be found in every cell of the human body and is used to build healthy cells, as well as some vital hormones. High cholesterol contributes to fatty deposits in blood vessels, which increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Preventing heart disease starts as early as babyhood by breast-feeding. Human breast milk is the only mammalian milk that’s tailor-made for human children. According to one study, babies who breast-feed for 1 month or longer have lower body mass index and higher levels of good HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol in midadulthood than adults who were bottle-fed. Add a vegan diet and regular exercise, and you’ve got the recipe for a heart-healthy life.
What exactly is it about plant-based diets that protect the heart? Elevated blood cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease. Cholesterol is only manufactured in the human body and in the bodies of animals. Diets based on grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds and devoid of animal products predictably do not contribute to high cholesterol. In one study in Britain, cholesterol levels of lacto-ovo vegetarians (vegetarians who consume dairy and egg products) were 14 percent higher than in vegans.
Fiber intake is another pro-player in the anticholesterol game, and vegan diets have tons of fiber. According to the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, “vegans generally consume 50 percent to 100 percent more fiber than the general population, and soluble fiber from legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds appears to reduce heart disease risk by lowering plasma cholesterol.” Vegans also eat much less saturated fat, another contributor to high cholesterol, than omnivores.
Heart disease is the number-one killer of adults in America. A vegan diet is undoubtedly the heart-healthy choice.
Ever Met an Obese Vegan?
Try really, really hard, and even your vegan child could become obese. After all, cookies, cotton candy, potato chips, and many types of french fries are animal-product-free foods. Most vegans and vegetarians, however, are not overweight. Meat eaters have three times the obesity rate of vegetarians, and nine times that of vegans.
According to the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, American children today are plagued with higher rates of obesity than ever before. Nearly 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds are clinically obese. Beyond obesity-related illnesses, the social stigma and low self-esteem obese children face in school can be almost certainly avoided by a healthy vegan diet and regular playtime exercise.
Cancer Protection
Any parent winces when they hear the words childhood cancer. Sadly, 46 American kids are diagnosed with cancer every school day, or more than 2,600 cases each year. That includes childhood leukemia as well as cancers and tumors of the brain, bones, lymph system, muscles, and kidneys.
Some childhood cancers have been associated with nitrites, a preservative used in meat hot dogs. According to the Cancer Prevention Coalition, studies indicate, “children born to mothers who consumed hot dogs one or more times per week during pregnancy have approximately double the risk