ATTN parents of vegan kids: FAT in diet

[Jergisen]

I am vegan myself, but my kids are vegetarian. I buy dairy products for them because children are not supposed to have low-fat diets.

If your kids are vegan and they are babies and/or toddlers, tell me what they eat in order to get enough fat and protein in their diets. My kids are picky, like most children... they have never liked avocado or olives, which both have the fat. They drink soymilk, so they do get fat and protein from that.

I don't want to buy dairy products at all, but I know they need the fat content. I don't live in a large city, so I am very limited to vegan options where I live.

Please share any opinions or information! Thanks ;)

[NYCVeg]

Well, not a mama myself, but plenty of options:
*coconut, coconut milk (super healthy)
*oils: flax oil, olive oil, etc.; you can drizzle it on almost anything, including sandwiches
*nuts and seeds (fat and protein): pumpkin seeds, in particular, are really healthy...I like to toast them and sprinkle with tamari; walnuts are good for omega-3s
*ground flax seeds
*soy: tofu, edamame, etc.
*avocado: if the kids don't like it plain, you can disguise it: blend it into smoothies, mash it with bananas and coconut milk to make "pudding"; make sandwich spread out of white beans and avocado, etc.
*protein powder (rice, if you don't want to have too much soy), added to smoothies

As for protein: beans, nuts, seeds, soy, whole grains (quinoa, whole wheat pasta, etc. have 8g/serving); seitain (22g/serving); etc.

[annie7]

What a perfect reply! Erin should sticky this!

[feline01]

I add fat into almost everything they eat. They still prefer pureed foods though they eat beans, bananas, oatios, toast and pretzels but their pureed lentil/brown rice/green peas that they love always gets a healthy dose of olive oil (plus a big scoop of nutritional yeast), their sweet potato/carrot puree that they love gets a large glob of tahini, they get Udo's oil (flaxseed oil) in their fortified rice milk and they each eat an ounce of either cashew or almond butter daily. Absolutely no problems with their fat intake and no guilt involved with giving them antbiotic and hormone laden exploited animal secretions.

[Erin Pavlina]

It's very easy getting healthy fats into vegan children.

NYCVeg had some great ideas.

[vegma]

Breastmilk! I suspect nature intended children to nurse for much longer than the status quo in the USA!

Personally, I think the push for fat and protein is over-rated. I've quit "adding oils" to our foods. If we don't get it in the whole food, it isn't there!

[Jergisen]

WOW that would be a LOT of OIL

I guess I could puree beans and avocados into things, but they don't eat pureed foods anymore. Basically, my 3 year old eats next to Nothing. She is in the 5th percentile for weight, and everyone I come into contact with says she is "petite." Well, she can't argue with "pudding" and "smoothies" every day, but could her system handle all that?

Thanks for the ideas. Maybe some of them could work over time. I am aware that all of those things have fat/protein, but I didn't know how I could get my kid to eat them.

Oh yeah, I already breastfed them for at least a year each :)

[xmysticprincessx]

how about some burritos? we LOVE those, and i throw in whatever we have (any kind of beans, lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, tofutti sour cream- LOTS of fat there, vegan cheese, etc.)
and you can mix avocado into the tofutti to make some pretty good guacamole.
we also break up tofu into small pieces and mix it into rice. you can barely notice that its there.
and i try to put nutritional yeast in everything i cook. (just to add the extra vitamins.)

[Jergisen]

thanks those are great ideas!

[vegma]

follow-up to my post about breastmilk (vs. cow's breastmilk :))...

http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/hea...cout527765.html

Quote:
"This is the first study to analyze the fat and energy content of breast milk of mothers who breast-feed for longer than a year," said study co-author Dr. Ronit Lubetzky, who is with the department of pediatrics at Dana Children's Hospital at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Israel. "There are more and more women who choose to breast-feed for longer time periods, and not many studies about the nutritional value of their milk during this prolonged lactation."

[Neeley]

Hi.

My 1 year old loves eatting bean burritos, or anything with beans.

I noticed that you said that your 3 year old is very picky and will only eat certain things. I just wanted to reassure you that this is perfectly normal and that pretty much all children go through phases like that. When I was around 3 or 4 all I would eat was chicken noodle soup (which completely grosses me out and my mother loves to bring up all the time now that I'm vegan).

I always get the comment that my daughter is so tiny. There is actually a post about it somewhere, and everyone had great input.

Oh yeah, nut butters are a great source of fat. Almond, peanut (if your kiddie is able to eat peanuts), etc. My daughter loves them.

[Jergisen]

She eats peanut butter but won't eat beans, usually.

Lately if we feed her she eats. It's the process of actually getting the food to her mouth..she must find boring or "too hard" or something.
her daddy got her to eat her entire dinner of cooked baby carrots, rice, and veggie burger the other night! So, I'm feeling better. I know it's a normal phase, but she was looking too skinny there for a couple of weeks.
Thanks. I could get her to try bean burritos again. Good Idea!

I have Mommy Brain, so I have no faith in any of my ideas anymore! LOL
:)

[avocado]

Hi, I have a vegan three year old but nothing to add as I agree with what everyone said, just to reassure you that they wont starve on a vegan diet, if they are too thin or hungry I'm sure they'll eat something eventually. We have a (vegetarian but not vegan) freind who is three who sounds just like your daughter and he may be light but he is so healthy and fast! and clever. both children) are still breastfeeding tho (maybe less uncommon in Australia than America).

Also I was very interested in the post Re: nutrients in BM, the link failed, could perhaps the person who posted it, post it again? thankyou

[vegma]

avacado, the link didn't work for me anymore either! I googled the article and found it at another site - hope you can access this one: http://www.childrenshospitals.net/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=17428&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm

I'm glad to hear breastfeeding is very accepted in Australia! We're doing our best to change things here! My family practices child-led weaning - ds was nowhere near ready to wean at 3 or 4, and its all up to him... :)

[Jergisen]

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LISTEN GUYS I BREASTFED FOR A YEAR
:)
I know the advantages of extended breastfeeding and am all for it, one of my kids was for 16 months.
Thanks for the info though, and I wish more peopel in theh us were like us. Like that spelling? Lol!

[vegma]

Hi Jergisen, I wasn't trying to pass judgement (although it is a topic I'm passionate about!). I was just responding to Avacado's request for a working link - although I see it isn't working now! Avacado, if you're still there, try googling "fat and energy content of breast milk " and you should (hopefully) be able to find the article.