In Case You Missed It
Incase you missed it:
(Jan. 30) — Mothers on a vegan diet could be putting their babies at risk
for developmental problems.
The CDC has documented two cases of neurological impairment in babies who
were breastfed by mothers on a vegan diet, which does not allow any meat,
fish, seafood, or dairy in the diet. The babies suffered from a deficiency of
vitamin B-12, even though both mothers claimed to have taken supplements,
says the report, which appears in the Jan. 31 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report.
Case 1. A 15-month-old girl was hospitalized for anemia and a condition
called “failure to thrive,” which means that the child was not developing
properly for her age. Blood tests revealed that the child had a vitamin B-12
deficiency.
The girl had been breastfed for eight months by a mother who was following a
vegan diet and who took nutritional and vitamin supplements. When the girl
started eating solid food, she vomited often and showed a poor appetite for
organic whole-grain cereals and fruit shakes her parents tried to feed her.
In the hospital, doctors tried nose-tube feedings and solid food. The child
also got shots of B-12 for three days. During that time, she had seizures
that ended without medication. An MRI brain scan showed that her brain had
shrunk.
At 28 months, her developmental skills were that of a 9-month-old. In speech
and language development, she lagged by more than a year behind normal
children.
By her third birthday, the child’s developmental progress had improved.
However, she continued to have problems, especially in speech and language,
says the report.
Case 2. A 3-year-old boy also was diagnosed with failure to thrive and
developmental delays. He had been breastfed exclusively for the first nine
months by a mother who ate a vegetarian diet with reportedly very little
meat, fish, or dairy products.
When the child was given solid food, his healthcare provider and his parents
became concerned about his growth and development. He was then given fruit
and dried cereals to stimulate his growth. When this was unsuccessful, he had
an operation to improve his ability to chew and swallow. He still didn’t grow
properly. He couldn’t tolerate soy or cow’s-milk formulas. His parents then
gave him a multigrain nondairy formula and fruits, vegetables, chicken,
vitamin supplements, and a product called “Greens Plus.”
Because of his poor motor and speech development at 11 months, his
pediatrician ordered genetic and metabolic tests and recommended speech,
occupational, and physical therapies. He was finally diagnosed with vitamin
B-12 deficiency and was given B-12 shots every two weeks and B-12 pills to
suck on every day.
Six months later, the child had slight speech and fine motor skill problems.
However, he has caught up in motor skill development.
SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Jan. 31, 2003.
August 27th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
WOW, a real eye-opener, Max. Thanks for sharing that.