Parents of ill vegan girl may face police

This article was sent to me by a friend. I find it difficult to accept that this is based on a vegan issue alone.

The NHS website has articles about Rickets detailing what it is, the symptoms and the causes! It does not state that vegans are at a greater risk. In fact it offers information about how we vegans can get what we need through non dairy sources: –

…Vitamin D which is found in oily fish, eggs and dairy products, but not in plant foods. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, you can get vitamin D from vegetable margarines, some soya milks and, if necessary, by taking vitamin D supplements.

….sunlight. Sunlight promotes the production of vitamin D which, provided that you spend time outdoors, usually provides your body with an adequate supply. Most people have enough vitamin D stored in their body to last for two to three years.

….Calcium is usually obtained by including foods such as milk and dairy products in your diet. Vegetarians and vegans can obtain calcium by eating leafy green vegetables, tofu, dried fruit, seeds, nuts, and foods that are fortified with the vitamin, such as certain breads.

The article referred to in the title of this blog is below: –

Parents of ill vegan girl may face police, Mark Macaskill

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl in Scotland brought up by her parents on a strict vegan diet has been admitted to hospital with a degenerative bone condition said to have left her with the spine of an 80-year-old woman.

Doctors are under pressure to report the couple to police and social workers amid concerns that her health and welfare may have been neglected in pursuit of their dietary beliefs.

The girl, who has been fed on a strict meat and dairy-free diet from birth, is said to have a severe form of rickets and to have suffered a number of fractured bones.

The condition is caused by a lack of vitamin D, which is needed to absorb calcium and is found in liver, oily fish and dairy produce. Decalcification leads to the bones becoming brittle and can cause curvature of the spine.

Dr Faisal Ahmed, the consultant paediatrician treating the child at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, declined to discuss the specific case. He said, however, that he believed the dangers of forcing children to follow a strict vegan diet needed to be highlighted.

One leading nutritionist, who asked not to be named, said: “In most instances, the parents who are imposing this very restrictive and potentially hazardous diet are not themselves brought up as vegans. They are imposing on their children something . . . which we do not know enough about to know it is safe.”

Jonathan Sher, head of policy at Children in Scotland, an umbrella group representing 400 organisations, said social workers should intervene where a vegan diet was putting children’s health at risk.

Last year, an American vegan couple were given a life sentence for starving their six-week-old baby to death. In 2001 two vegans from west London were sentenced to three years’ community rehabilitation after they admitted starving their baby to death.

Glasgow city council said the incident involving the 12-year-old girl had not been referred to its social work department.

More information about the issues surrounding pregnancy, children & diet.