It is feasible to have a healthy, vibrant vegetarian child. If you do choose to go the vegetarian route ensure that you pay attention to complementary proteins and find appropriate sources of minerals, vitamins, fats and omega fatty acids. It is advisable to consult an expert to guide you in this area to ensure that there are no growth and health deficiencies present.
Vegetarian babies can be healthy and grow just as well as their meat-eating counterparts; provided their parents take special care to ensure that their babies get sufficient protein as well as sufficient amino-acid diversity. High protein foods include dairy products, eggs and many grains, nuts, legumes and pulses. Take note that all grains and beans (except for soy and quinoa) are considered incomplete proteins and must be eaten in combination with others. Mix beans with whole grains, like rice for instance, and be familiar with how to ensure a balanced protein intake for your child. Especially for younger babies, consider their diet very carefully. Once your child is old enough for nuts and other protein substances, a vegetarian diet can be easy to manage. It is your responsibility as a parent to ensure that your child has a diet complete in all essential nutrients. If you choose to feed your baby a vegetarian diet, ensure that all animal proteins being left out are replaced with the vegetarian replacement of your choice. Deficiencies in poorly balanced vegetarian diets may occur due to lowered immunity and sub-optimal growth and development.
Sources of Protein
Foods from animal sources are complete proteins. Complete proteins have an abundance of all the essential amino acids which means they don’t need to be combined with other foods to make a complete protein. Some foods from the plant kingdom, such as soy and quinoa, are also complete proteins. Most plant foods, though, have one or more limiting amino acids which limit the availability of all the other amino acids in the food. These foods are called ‘incomplete proteins’. For example, beans are low in the amino acid lysine, while rice is rich in lysine. When the amino acids from two or more foods together make up a complete protein, with sufficient levels of all the essential amino acids, these food pairings are called ‘complementary proteins’. People following a vegetarian diet must eat protein foods that have complementary proteins so that the essential amino acids missing from one protein food can be supplied by another. It was once believed that complementary proteins had to be consumed at every meal. We now know that intentional combining at each meal isn’t necessary. As long as you eat a variety of plant foods, such as brown rice, corn, nuts, seeds and whole grains within each 24 hour period, your protein needs should easily be met.
Complete, high-quality proteins include eggs, chicken, fish, beef, pork, lamb, turkey, other animal meats, dairy, quinoa, tofu and soy products.
Incomplete sources of protein include legumes (such as beans, lentils, peas, and soy beans), some grains, nuts, and seeds.
The chart below shows some examples of food combining for complete protein intake. While this chart is very limited, in reality the possibilities could fill several pages.
| Foods | Limiting Amino Acids | Complementary Foods | Examples |
| Legumes: Lentils, peas, beans |
Tryptophan Methionine |
Grains Nuts Seeds |
Peas and millet |
| Grains: Wheat, corn, brown rice, oats, barley, rye |
Lysine Isoleucine Threonine |
Legumes Dairy |
Brown rice and beans, Whole wheat bread and cottage cheese |
| Nuts and Seeds: Almonds, cashews, sunflower, pumpkin |
Lysine Isoleucine |
Legumes | Tahini (sesame paste) and tofu |
Article written by Katherine Megaw, a clinical dietitian with a special interest in paediatrics, and the franchise owner of Little Cooks Club Tableview.
For more information, please visit our website: Little Cooks Club.
