My daughter wants to be a vegetarian.

[Amina516]

So, my daughter told me and her dad that she wants to be a vegetarian. She's just turned 8. Of course, being the carnivore than I am, I am bewildered by this. I LOVE MEAT.

Her best friend in the world, another second grader, is a vegetarian and often makes remarks about how disgusting meat is when she sees other people eating at lunch. My daughter assures me this is not the doing of her bff, but rather she feels guilty about eating defenseless animals. I can see that. Shes a gentle soul and loves animals of all kinds. (She will watch hours and hours of Too cute! on TV and squee at the various animals in baby form)

So, if she really wants to do that, then I will encourage her and try to help. We talked a little bit about protein and how we still need that in her diet. Im just worried I will do something horribly wrong. I know I can google stuff but wondering if anyone had ideas or advice that they've found helpful regarding this. She has a check up soon with her family MD and Im also planning on bringing it up to them as well.

[munchkinmama]

My son is semi-vegetarian all of his life so I asked a long time vegetarian what to do about protein and so use peanut butter, cheese or eggs as his main protein sources. So in addition to talking to the doc, hopefully some vegetarians can give you some ideas (I forgot some that were told to me because my kid wouldn't eat them as he is picky).

[Aislin]

My husband Is a vegetarian lacto ovo. Japheth eats cheese and eggs because he got very sick being vegan. If you have a kindle or other device that has the kindle app there are some,very good books on becoming a vegetarian. Also the site for forks over knives has a good resources. I wish her the best on her journey. I am too lazy to be a vegetarian. The hubs decided at 15 meat was too hard on the environment and went vegan for a While before he was told protein deficiency was harming him. Beans and rice are a good source of protein, broccoli and rice too. Tempa and all the fake meat by morning star farms are okay but processed and you have to watch sodium.

[mathnerd]

I think your instincts to research are spot on. I went through a phase with my youngest where he would only eat raw vegetables. That was a challenge! I don't have the time right now to dig up all my old research, but there are some very good sites out there that break down the nutritional value of different foods and some other sites that break down what a growing child of a specific gender/age needs in their diet, and if you put the effort in (and involve the child, of course) to put it all together, you can come up with a very healthy diet for her if this is what she really wants.

When I get back from dropping my kid off at church, I'll spend a little bit more time looking for the old sites I used.

[auntiem]

Involve her in the research - both on what nutrition she needs at her age and use a organic chem book* to research what foods have those attributes. My guess (it was true for me anyways), is that she will crave iron.
Any chance she could be "eased" into it by going pescitarian (sp)? You'd have to go with frozen fish at this point (if it is affordable in your area).
Too bad you are starting in the fall, but there are tons of yummy dishes you can still make. If possible, can you have her grow an indoor herb garden?
Be careful of the sodium levels in pre-made meat subsitutes - they often up the salt to simulate flavor.

* My Mom had us look up dishes in her organic chem book since I was little. If we asked her to make a specific food she would have us look it up and explain to her what we were craving then she most likely made it.

[Kittish]

Just gonna chime in briefly with a different point of view.

I am NOT trying to start any arguments, or offer discouragement, just pointing out what, to me, seems to be a bit skewed about the whole ethical side of being vegetarian.

What about all the defenseless plants?

[Amina516]

What about all the defenseless plants?

I've brought that up to her before. Plants don't have faces so they're ok to eat? Idk, as I said, I'm an equal opportunity ingester.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to research as much as I can and hopefully we can reach a compromise and healthy diet. I'm going to keep her eating eggs and cheese. Also, Fish if she consents. An herb garden is a great idea. She does love to grow things.

[gremcint]

find out how devoted she is to this, you'll find meat in a lot of surprising places, like marshmallows have some pork in them sometimes.

[MoonCat]

Plants don't have consciousness, or at least that's how the thinking goes. Anyway humans have to eat SOMETHING or we die of starvation. Fat, protein and carbs are necessary for health, in differing amounts. Kids have different nutritional needs than adults, as they are still growing, but it sounds like you're on the right track by researching vegetarianism.

[BookstoreEscapee]

As long as she doesn't want to go vegan, adequate protein shouldn't be too difficult. You might want to talk to a registered dietician, preferably one who works with kids often (if not specifically a pediatric RD, if that exists). A few sessions should be enough to help design a proper diet and make sure she's not missing out on any other nutrients.

[cindybubbles]

Here's a fun site for her:
http://www.petakids.com/

And here is a form for ordering a free PETA Kids magazine:
http://www.petakids.com/freeHelpingAnimalsMagazine.asp

And here is PETA's main web site for your information:
http://www.peta.org/

[Sapphire Silk]

Watch fat and carbs. When you go vegetarian, but don't really like vegetables, it's easy to load up on starches.

A former roomie of mine did this; went vegetarian but ate mostly breads, potatoes, rice, pasta, and beans. He wasn't much on green vegetables or fruits.

He packed on the pounds, and it was all unhealthy.

[wolfie]

she feels guilty about eating defenseless animals.

Just gonna chime in briefly with a different point of view.

I am NOT trying to start any arguments, or offer discouragement, just pointing out what, to me, seems to be a bit skewed about the whole ethical side of being vegetarian.

What about all the defenseless plants?

And from roughly 180 degrees away from Kittish, I realize these aren't local to your area, but I've heard (no personal experience) that rattlesnake steaks and feral hog are quite tasty. Nobody familiar with Diamondbacks and Razorbacks would consider either to be defenseless.

[Aethian]

Can you talk to the friends Mom about the comments she makes in the lunch room? Attitudes and comments like that need to be stopped early or the kid could find herself in a world of hurt later in the friend department.

As for your daughter, I tried the vegetarian lifestyle and my Mom would help me make the meals and even set up my plate but as she said she wasn't going to make two meals when I was making my own mind up .

[Food Lady]

While protein is present in many foods--some of which will surprise you*--I try to combine starches with what would traditionally be considered protein foods so as not to spike my blood sugar. Both my parents are diabetic, so I think like a diabetic as well as a vegetarian.

That said, my sources of protein are legumes (beans, peanuts and lentils), cheese (a few times a week), cage-free eggs, nuts, and milk, though that's also a carb. And nuts really are a fat, but have some protein, and do help stabilize the blood sugar. I also consume a few servings of soy products and mycoprotein within a month. I try to vary those and avoid soy protein isolate. Tofurkey products contain some, but also have tofu as some of the bulk. Quorn products are soy-free mycoprotein. I occasionally pick up Morningstar Farms or Boca, but I consider them less healthy than the other 2 brands, so I limit them. I limit meat analogues overall because they're expensive and I crave meat less than I did when I started this journey almost 4 years ago. I can make so many things with beans.

I guess the best piece of advice is to figure out how to convert her favorite dishes. That's how I started. Then, once I mastered that, I opened my repetoire. For instance, I added two types of lentil soups to my rotation that I didn't eat before. And I discovered that new ways of cooking veggies expanded my list of favorites. For instance, I thought I hated carrots because I had usually encountered them raw. But I discovered roasted carrots are absolutely addictive! I hate cooked spinach, but now I will eat it raw. Asparagus is great if you pick the thinner spears, break off the woody parts, and steam juuuust until bright green. Add a little butter and salt; only too much is harmful. As for broccoli, the choices were usually raw or boiled to death, both disgusting. But steaming until bright green makes for a flavorful side of "trees". I crave vegetables now. What really helped me get ideas was to subscribe to Vegetarian Times for 1 year. It was inspiring and introduced me to new veggies and grains I'd never heard of, like quinoa. My most favorite dish ever from that magazine is the quinoa-stuffed red bell peppers, which are a southwestern style dish. I had never heard of anything like that, and when peppers are cheap, watch out; my crockpot will be full of them all month. (The original recipe calls for the oven, but slow-cooked is soooo much better.)

*example: pasta, considered a starch, actually has about 7 grams protein per serving