Would being a vegetarian stunt my growth (iam 16 male) ? (doctors plz)?

Question

i encourage doctors and specialist to answer public feel free 2 ;)

Answer 1

I'm sorry you don't have to be a doctor to know you can be healthy and a vegetarian even as a minor. In fact in "A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that while American children have an average I.Q. of 99, the average I.Q. of vegetarian American children is 116.24"

That's over a whopping 17 points higher than the average. Do you honestly think if malnutrition was an issue these children would be performing so well?

Here is a quote from the American Dietetic Association "Vegan diets can easily meet the nutritional needs of the growing child. It is important for parents to research, plan and become aware of good resources when raising a vegan."

In other words yes you can be healthy but the caveat (or warning) is to make sure you are educated on how to go about it.

Answer 2

i dont think a vegetarian diet would stunt your growth. eat plenty of protein from food such as beans pulses eggs etc good luck with it

Answer 3

I am not a doctor but I can give you the opinion of qualified professional nutritionists.

Two nutritionists at University told me that nutritionally balanced vegan and vegetarian diets are very healthy.

No good nutritionist will ever tell you that vegetarianism is unhealthy. You'll be fine.

Answer 4

NO! You need to make sure you get all your vitamins. If you live a healthy lifestyle and keep a balanced diet you should be fine.

Answer 5

lol no it wont in fact if you were a vegetarian that has been shown those teens are shorter but if you dont eliminate dairy you will be just fine

Answer 6

I'm a nurse-to-be (in a few months), my dad's a doctor.  We're both vegetarians.  He's been one pretty much all his life, I've been one since I was 8 years old.  I'm a 5'8" female (I don't know how tall my dad is, several inches taller than me).

So, no it shouldn't stunt your growth. My mom eats meat sometimes, and she's shorter than both me and my younger sister (who's also a vegetarian).  Really, it just depends on if you eat right or not.  Nothing special.

EDIT:  please inform me why I am getting thumbs down?  Is it something I said?  I was just giving examples...

Answer 7

No. Research suggests that vegetarian kids and teens often grow taller than their meat-eating friends. Dr. Charles Atwood writes: “Children on low-fat diets of mostly vegetables, fruits, grain, and legumes, when consuming adequate calories, not only grow normally, but have actually been shown to attain greater height than meat-eating children.” http://www.goveg.com/lettuce_healthy.asp

The American Dietetic Association says: "Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence."

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada...