Tips for feeding vegetarian and vegan children

Pediatric Dietitian Nicole Meadow, MPN, RD, shares advice for parents whose child is a vegetarian or vegan on which nutrients you should be sure your child is getting enough
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Tips for feeding vegetarian and vegan children

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Vegetarian and vegan children need to really pay attention to make sure that they get enough protein. So vegetarian children, they are looking at beans and nuts and eggs and legumes and dairy, as their sources of protein. Vegan children are looking at beans, nuts, and legumes; because they don't have any dairy in their diet. Nutrients of concern with both vegans and vegetarians, are zinc, B12, and iron. We need to watch that in both vegetarians and vegans. Vegans, in particular, since they don't have any dairy in their diet, really need to pay attention to calcium and B12. One thing that we are looking for in vegetarians, since they are not taking in any animal protein, which has a complete protein; we want to pair, for example, beans and rice. With vegetarians, you want to have a protein at every meal. So if you put beans and rice together, that completes a protein for a meal.

Pediatric Dietitian Nicole Meadow, MPN, RD, shares advice for parents whose child is a vegetarian or vegan on which nutrients you should be sure your child is getting enough

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Nicole Meadow, MPN, RD

Pediatric Dietitian

Nicole Meadow, MPN, RD is the founder of NutritionWise, a nutrition consulting practice based in Los Angeles.  She enjoys working with clients in all ages and stages of the lifespan and has specialized training in working with children and families. As a trusted partner who works closely with her clients and their physicians, she specializes in medical nutrition-related issues including food allergies, diabetes (type I, II and gestational), overweight/obesity, celiac disease, feeding disorders, failure to thrive, cardiac disease, eating disorders, and others.  Nicole’s approach and philosophy are based on a client-centered model.  She looks at each client on an individual basis and develops their plan according to their specific needs.  Nicole works with her clients to develop realistic and attainable goals. 

Prior to opening her private practice, she practiced as a clinical dietitian at the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (outpatient clinics, school-based clinics, community education), at Cedars Sinai Medical Center and in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.  

In addition to her clinical work, Nicole publishes her own newsletter, NutritionWise Monthly. She has contributed to numerous publications and websites including Healthy Child Healthy World, Breezy Mama, Parenting, The Bump, ICAN (Infant, Child and Adolescent Nutrition- a professional publication) and is a frequent speaker to local schools, corporations and the community at large. Nicole has also provided consulting services to several national food and beverage companies.  She is the founder of the San Fernando Valley Family Food Allergy Support Group and is on the medical advisory board for the Celiac Disease Foundation. 

Nicole received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan and a Master of Arts Degree in Preventive Nutrition from the University of Southern California. She then completed the Dietetic Internship program at California State University Northridge.

 

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