Foods for the future and their potential impact on child nutrition

Dietetic professionals in many countries accept that vegetarian and even vegan diets can be adopted for young children but great care must be taken to address the possibility of deficiencies in certain critical nutrients: protein, iron, zinc, calcium, selenium, vitamin B12 and vitamin D. There is little data for very young children and it would generally be considered that the greatest care should be taken in this age group if animal foods are to be withheld. There are wide differences in the composition of plant-based milk substitutes (usefully tabulated in Merritt’s paper) and, as yet, there is very little information about their impact on child nutrition, except for the knowledge that children not consuming animal milks tend to grow more slowly than those that do. Assuming that current trends towards a greater intake of plant-based foods continue, all three authors contributing to this volume have emphasised the needs for national paediatric dietetic bodies to develop clear guidelines to set any limits to intakes (if deemed appropriate) and to help parents to devise food strategies that will avoid potential deficiencies and optimise their children’s growth, development and lifelong health.