First, take a deep breath!   Remember that your Mom is simply concerned about your son’s health.  And she, like so many others, is exposed to constant industry advertising regarding the supposed virtues of meat and dairy products.  If she’s like my Mom, it’s unthinkable to her that advertisers would twist reality into something unrecognizable!  (“But dear, why would they say that if it wasn’t true?”)  Your Mom, like so many others, has probably been taught to believe that meat and dairy products are vital to a growing child’s diet.  Perhaps she has even been told this by doctors.  Unfortunately, many doctors have no trainning in nutrition and they are people too, susceptible to the same advertising messages as everyone else (and even more from pharmaceutical companies and reps!). 

 

I encourage you to present your mother with the facts.  The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the American Academy of Pediatrics both endorse vegan diets for children - yes, even for infants and toddlers.  There are many doctors who have weighed in on the benefits of a healthy vegan diet for people of any age.  I encourage you to read the resources below, and research this further for yourself.  Then, you can speak from a place of authority and, perhaps, email the articles and studies to your Mom or give her copies of them to read. 

 

Some good places to start are:

 

http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_hot_pregnancy_children.html

This article by Dr. John McDougall addresses pregnancy, children and vegan diets.

 

http://nutritionfacts.org/index.php?s=nutrition+for+children

This website, by Dr. Michael Greger, contains many short summaries of studies, some of which are specifically about children.  It supports children eating a healthy vegan diet.

 

http://www.thechinastudy.com/?s=nutrition+for+children

This website is by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, the most comprehensive study of nutrition.  It includes specific commentary regarding children.

 

Note that in The China Study, in a section on Type 1 Diabetes, the researchers state that  “cow’s milk may cause one of the most devastating diseases that can befall a child,” and explain the process of why that happens.  It also discusses diet and obesity in children as well as advertising targeted to children.  The China Study is an excellent and well researched book and might make a great gift for your Mom or anyone interested in nutrition.  

 

As I always say, follow the money when looking at any study.  You have to know who funded the study!  If the money traces back to a group that will financially benefit from the conclusion, then look for studies from truly independent sources to corroborate the conclusions drawn. 

 

The July/August 2013 issue of VegNews (p 30-31) includes an excellent article on dairy and the heavy push from the dairy industry in advertising.  Dairy consumption has fallen in the last few decades as consumers are learning that dairy is dangerous for people in so many ways.  Sales of non-dairy milks such as almond, rice, soy, hemp and more are rising.  The dairy industry (already one of the most powerful lobby groups in the US) is fighting back with heavy advertising. 

 

The unfortanate truth is that most dairy cows in the U.S. are given a growth hormone to increase milk production.  Sadly, studies show that this is very likely connected with tumor growth in humans.  The European Union, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have all banned this growth hormone.  (The hormone is recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) if you want to research it further.)  Remember, if an animal eats or drinks a hormore or antibiotic, or receives it in shots, (hormones and antibiotics are both heavily used in the dairy and meat industries, including fish and fowl), you ingest the antibiotic and hormone too everytime you eat the flesh or secretions (dairy/eggs) of that animal.   In my opinion, this is SCARY STUFF! 

 

Instead of eating and drinking flesh and dairy, isn’t it much more efficient, cheaper and less damaging to the planet to eat the foods we need directly?  Of course it is!  It’s simply a matter of realizing this and being open to a new idea.  In an ideal environment, cows get their calcium from green leafy plants that grow from the ground and  so should we.  Fish get their Omega 3 from plants in the ocean – so can we.  Go directly to the source!

 

Regardless of the information and science presented to her,  It is possible that your Mom will not change her mind. If that occurs, move forward with your well founded decision, knowing that you are  giving your child (and yourselves) the best gift you ever could –  that of good health.