New York Post: Kids find a new way to run their parents’ lives
While kiddie vegans might be convincing their parents, health experts aren’t so sure of…restrictive [vegan] diets for the preteen set.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” says Danielle Pashko, a nutritionist for Park East Day School on the UES. “Adults eat tofu, tempeh, veggies — they know how to get their B vitamins and amino acids, protein, calcium, vitamin D … but kids aren’t naturally inclined to eat vegetables. Most of the time, a vegan child who’s left to their own devices will have nutrient-void foods — a bowl of Cheerios, pasta or potatoes.”
But resistance can be futile. “They see it as a life commitment — they are hard-core,” says Maggie Siena, a Brooklyn mother whose kids Jacob, 12, and Julia Schles, 15, made giving up eggs, meat and dairy their 2016 New Year’s resolution.