Vegan baby hospitalized, removed from parents

The 14-month-old boy weighed just 11lbs – the same as a three month old baby.

Blood tests revealed the child, who was born in May 2015, was severely malnourished with calcium levels barely adequate to survive.

Doctors later found that the child also had a congenital heart condition. In Atlanta, the parents of a 6-week-old whose diet consisted largely of soy milk and apple juice were sentenced to life in prison after their baby died, reported NBC News in 2007. The only thing that the parents should have made sure of is that the child would receive the correct amount of calcium and iron.

The court has awarded custody to the Policlinico San Donato hospital as they await an investigation into the circumstances. The baby’s weight was like 3-month-old one at the age of 14 months.

While the baby boy is now recovering, his parents had lost custody to their child.

Doctors agree that vegan or vegetarian diets can be healthy for babies – assuming they’re getting enough key nutrients.

Veganism is becoming more popular in Italy and, unfortunately, this is not the first case of child being hospitalized on the diet. While the heart condition was caused by a cardiac abnormality, as opposed to the diet directly, doctors said that the low levels of calcium certainly aggravated the serious medical issue.

Similar cases have been observed in other countries as well.

An article in the Spectator argued previous year that it isn’t veganism that harms children – it’s neglectful parenting.

A paediatrician at the hospital where the boy is being treated said: “It’s not a problem if parents want to raise their children using alternative or even unusual diets, but care needs to be taken to make up for any nutritional shortfalls using supplements”. However, the hospital’s director of pediatrics, Luca Bernardo, says that the toddler’s vegan parents should have been supplementing his vegan diet with both iron and calcium to ensure that the little boy received proper nutrition.