Vegan Nutrition with Dina Aronson, M.S. R.D.

Dina Aronson, MS, RD is a vegan dietitian whose specialties include chronic disease prevention, vegetarian/vegan nutrition, and lifestyle management. She is the founder and director of VeganRD.com, a nutrition consulting company. Active in many vegetarian nutrition organizations, Dina was the recipient of the American Dietetic Association's Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award in 2002.

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How do I know if my vegan daughter's daily diet is enough for her nutritionally? She is 9 years old and I'm worried that I don't provide her with enough diversity in food choices to ensure she gets her recommended amount of vitamins etc. Should I just give her a multi-vitamin and stop worrying?

A multivitamin will never be an adequate substitute for a healthy diet, but it can help fill in the gaps when necessary. More about that below.

If your child is growing well and gets a clean bill of health from her healthcare provider, that is the first clue that she?s doing just fine. I recommend a visit to a vegan-friendly registered dietitian, who can ask the right questions and be able to provide you with more specific information and recommendations. I also recommend keeping a reliable resource on hand, such as Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina, to get accurate information and great inspiration!

As you know, vegans thrive on a diet based on whole foods: vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds, and whole grains. Treats like soy ice cream, cookies, French fries, and the like are going to be present in most kids? diets; SMALL amounts of these foods won?t ruin an otherwise excellent vegan, whole-foods diet.

What a lot of people forget is that in this day and age, getting TOO MUCH of certain things (sugar, refined flour, saturated fat, trans fat) is posing the most serious health risk, and these problems often are missed at checkups because the healthcare providers don?t usually check for high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and other problems that, in the past, were only seen in adults. Most kids nowadays are eating more than ever before, but are more malnourished than ever before, because the bulk of the foods they eat provide plenty of calories but few nutrients. So, those kids that live on chicken fingers, refined, sugary cereals, grilled cheese, and snack foods are the ones who are at the most risk for long-term health problems, yet most caregivers see this as a perfectly acceptable diet!

Be confident that vegan kids thrive on a varied whole foods diet. However, because kids? diets cannot be monitored all the time (this is unrealistic) and food cannot and should not be forced, certainly a multivitamin is perfectly acceptable. This goes for vegan and non-vegan children alike. A good vegan supplement provides 100% of the RDA of all nutrients (for the appropriate age group). Depending on your daughter?s diet (particularly her intake of oils, nuts, seeds, and flax), you might also want to consider providing an essential fatty acid supplement.

Disclaimer: The advice given here is for eductional purposes only. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.

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