Is a vegan diet safe for children and babies?

The objection

“Children have high nutrient needs and no say in what they’re fed. Many paediatricians in Europe consider a purely vegan diet unsuitable for children, and Europe’s paediatric nutrition experts can find no proven health benefit in one. Studies keep finding vegan children shorter and more often short of B12 and iron, and babies of vegan mothers have had seizures from B12 deficiency. Why take that risk with a child?”

The answer

A vegan diet can meet a child’s needs, but every body that says so attaches conditions, and some paediatric bodies are warier than the dietitians. The UK’s British Dietetic Association says plant-based diets, a group in which it includes vegan diets, “can support healthy living at every age and life stage” [1], though its fact sheet dates from 2021 and is under review. Ireland’s dietitians’ body, INDI, says a well-planned plant-based diet “can be nutritionally adequate for all stages of life” [2], Dietitians of Canada says “anyone can follow a vegan diet”, from children to teens [3], and British Columbia’s health service says a well-planned one “can be a healthy eating pattern for people of all ages, including babies and toddlers” [4]. In 2016 the US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics named infancy, childhood and adolescence among the stages a well-planned vegan diet suits [5]; its current position, from 2025, covers only adults who are not pregnant or breastfeeding [6]. Pregnancy and breastfeeding have their own answer.

The Spanish Paediatric Association’s 2020 position paper accepts that a vegetarian diet is not necessarily unsafe at any age, but advises that babies and young children eat an omnivorous or at least a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet [7]. The Victorian government’s Better Health Channel in Australia says vegan foods can be introduced safely to babies when all their needs are met, yet “strict vegan diets are not recommended for very young children” [8]. In 2025 the nutrition committee of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) concluded that a vegan diet supporting normal growth is “potentially achievable but cannot be confirmed with the available evidence”, and found “no proven health benefits” of a vegan diet in childhood [9]. The committee added that the North American position papers calling well-planned vegan diets appropriate for all ages rested on little evidence, and that many paediatricians in Europe consider a purely vegan diet unsuitable for children [9]. It recommended that vegan children have regular counselling from a qualified dietitian, are monitored by a paediatrician and take a daily B12 supplement [9]. The French-speaking paediatric gastroenterology and nutrition group (GFHGNP) warned in 2019 that a vegan diet exposes children to deficiencies that can be serious, especially when it starts early, and said B12 and vitamin D supplements are always necessary (Lemale et al., 2019) [34].

What does the research on vegan children show?

The research finds real risks alongside some favourable signs, such as lower LDL cholesterol, and most of it comes from observational studies that take a single snapshot. A 2026 meta-analysis (Lotti et al.) pooled 59 studies of 48,626 children, 1,289 of them vegan [10]. The vegan children took in particularly little calcium and were shorter on average, with lower BMI scores, lower haemoglobin and iron stores and higher odds of B12 deficiency, but they also had lower total and LDL cholesterol, and most group averages stayed within children’s normal ranges [10]. A 2024 meta-analysis (Koller et al.) found many of the same differences, although there vegan children’s B12 levels were higher than omnivores’, which the authors put down to supplements [11]. Seventeen of its 18 studies were cross-sectional, and it graded the certainty of 46 of its 48 pooled results as very low and the other two as low [11].

A detailed 2021 study of Polish children aged 5 to 10 (Desmond et al.) shows what sits behind such averages [12]. The 52 vegan children were on average 3.15 cm shorter than the 72 omnivores after allowing for their parents’ height, birth weight and other factors, and had 3.7% less bone mineral even after allowing for their smaller size [12]. Their LDL cholesterol was 24 mg/dL lower, and an estimated 0.4% had high LDL against 13.3% of omnivores, although 26.4% had low HDL cholesterol against 6.9% [12]. An estimated 13% had probable B12 deficiency, against 3.2% of omnivores, and 30.2% had depleted iron stores, against 12.8% [12]. Fifteen of the 52 vegan children were given no B12 supplement or fortified food at all, while those given both had B12 levels no different from the omnivores’ [12].

Cross-sectional studies like these cannot prove that the diet caused the differences, and Desmond’s team recruited families through online adverts, which they flagged as a risk of selection bias [12]. ESPGHAN’s review found vegan children shorter in absolute terms but within the normal range, with no difference in height z-score [9], and Desmond’s team could not say whether the height gap would last into adulthood [12]. Newer studies still point in different directions. In a 2025 study of 142 Czech children who had eaten their family’s diet since birth, growth did not differ between vegan, vegetarian and omnivorous families, and the vegan children had the most favourable LDL and total cholesterol (Heniková et al., 2025) [29]. A 2026 study in Leipzig drew on 2,508 children and teenagers but had only 12 vegans aged 10 or over to analyse, and found them shorter than vegetarian children once puberty was allowed for, and lower than both vegetarians and omnivores in IGF-1, a hormone the researchers used as a marker of growth (Allner et al., 2026) [30].

Age matters as well: a 2026 systematic review of 31 studies that looked at each age separately (Kajiura et al.) linked restrictive plant-based diets in the weaning period, from 6 to 24 months, with deficiencies, growth deficits and developmental delays, and vegan and macrobiotic diets at 2 to 5 years with moderate shortfalls in height and weight, where lacto-ovo-vegetarian diets were linked with normal growth [13]. In 6 to 11 year-olds, vegan diets went with adequate growth but often with iron and B12 deficiencies, and across the review, nutritional concerns were smaller where plant-based diets were balanced and the essential supplements were taken [13].

The largest study of babies from vegan homes is more reassuring about the first two years. Israel’s public family health centres followed 1,198,818 babies born from 2014 to 2023, 3,338 of them from vegan households (Avital et al., 2026) [28]. In the first 60 days, 7.2% of the babies from vegan homes were underweight for their length, against 4.7% from omnivorous homes (adjusted odds ratio 1.37, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.63), but by about age 2, 3.9% were stunted against 3.1%, a difference that was not statistically significant, and underweight no longer differed significantly (1.1% against 0.8%) [28]. Overweight did not differ significantly between the groups at either age [28]. The study recorded only each family’s diet, noted at least 6 months after the birth, and lacked a measurement at about age 2 for 37% of the children [28]. Its lead author disclosed volunteering for a nonprofit that advocates plant-based nutrition [28].

How should a vegan baby or toddler be fed?

Breast milk comes first, soya infant formula is the vegan option for a baby who isn’t breastfed, and no plant drink should be the main milk in the first year. Any formula should be a shop-bought infant formula, never a homemade one [4][33]. British Columbia’s health service calls soy-based formula the best choice for vegan babies who have formula [4], while the NHS says to give soya formula only if a health professional advises it [14], so in the UK ask a health visitor or GP first. Breast milk or formula should stay the main drink until at least age 1 [14], and plant drinks are not a suitable substitute before then [8].

In the UK a breastfed baby needs a vitamin D supplement every day from birth, and every child from 6 months to 5 years should have vitamin A, C and D drops every day, unless they drink more than 500ml of infant formula a day [15]. A fortified plant drink comes in only at the age national advice allows: from 1 in the UK, where unsweetened calcium-fortified soya, oat or almond drinks can be part of a balanced diet [14], and from 2 in British Columbia, where plain fortified soy can then be the main drink [4]. Children under 5 in the UK should not be given rice drinks at all, because of the arsenic in them [14]. A vegan mother who is breastfeeding needs reliable B12 herself, because her milk may be low in it [4][8]. The UK and British Columbia differ on the details.

	UK (NHS)	British Columbia (HealthLinkBC)
Main milk	Breast milk or first infant formula until at least age 1; soya formula only on a health professional’s advice [14]	Breast milk to age 2 or beyond; soy-based formula is the best choice, until age 2 [4]
Fortified plant drink	Unsweetened calcium-fortified soya, oat or almond from age 1 [14]	Plain fortified soy as the main drink from age 2, or from 1 with a dietitian’s help if formula is hard to afford or find; no more than 3 cups (750 mL) of soy formula and soy drink a day, so there is room for solids [4]
Rice drink	Not under age 5, because of arsenic [14]	Not under age 2, nor almond, coconut or oat drinks [4]
Vitamin D, breastfed baby	8.5 to 10 micrograms a day from birth [15]	400 IU (10 micrograms) a day [4][21]

Vegan meals can be so high in fibre that a toddler’s small stomach fills before it has taken in enough energy, so the British Columbian and Victorian services both suggest energy-dense foods such as nut butters, avocado and oils, and some refined grains such as white rice alongside wholegrains [4][8].

Which supplements does a vegan child need?

Every vegan child needs a reliable source of B12, on top of the vitamin drops every UK child aged 6 months to 5 years should have [15]. ESPGHAN recommends B12-fortified foods and a daily age-appropriate B12 supplement for every vegan child, with blood checks of B12 status during growth spurts or whenever intake may have fallen short [9], and British Columbia’s service advises asking a health care provider about a supplement for any child who isn’t regularly having fortified foods [4]. Choose a B12 product made for your child’s age and ask a health care provider or dietitian about the dose [4][9], because in a 2022 Czech study vegan children were given 278 micrograms a day on average, and many of them ended up with B12 levels above the normal range [17].

ESPGHAN counts a vegan diet as a risk factor for vitamin D deficiency from birth to 18 [9]. Iron, calcium, zinc, omega-3 and iodine need planning too: ESPGHAN suggests considering iron supplements for breastfed babies from 6 months and an algae DHA supplement before age 2 [9]. Iodine deserves particular attention, because children who drink only plant drinks in place of cow’s milk take in less of it (Schlune et al., 2026) [32]. In a 2025 study of Czech families, vegan children had lower urinary iodine, which the authors called a possible concern, although their thyroid-stimulating hormone levels did not differ (Heniková et al., 2025) [29], and ESPGHAN’s review found one study with lower urinary iodine in vegan children and another that did not confirm it [9]. The NHS advises vegans to have fortified foods or consider supplements for the nutrients that are harder to get on a vegan diet, iodine among them [20]. When choosing a plant drink, the British Dietetic Association advises picking one fortified with iodine and checking the label [35], because many are not: in UK supermarkets in December 2024, 48% of non-organic plant milks had added iodine (Nicol et al., 2026) [36]. The BDA also says seaweed and kelp supplements should not be used as an iodine source, because their content can differ widely from what the label claims [35]. Doses matter as well, because too much of some vitamins can be harmful, so the NHS advises keeping to the dose on the label and not giving two supplements at the same time [15].

Have vegan babies been harmed?

Yes, babies have been seriously harmed, by B12 deficiency when their vegan mothers lacked B12, and by plant drinks or homemade formula given in place of breast milk or infant formula. Doctors in Buenos Aires described babies of vegan mothers with seizures, pauses in breathing and floppiness, and urged that vegan mothers take B12 from before conception until breastfeeding ends (Aguirre et al., 2019) [16]. The first signs were vague, such as listlessness, refusing food and losing skills the baby had already learned, and the authors stressed that doctors need to ask about the mother’s diet to spot the risk [16]. If a breastfed baby of a vegan mother becomes listless or stops feeding well, see a doctor promptly and mention the mother’s diet. Where families do supplement, deficiency is uncommon: in a 2022 Czech study only 2 of 69 vegan children were B12 deficient and the researchers saw no severe consequences, although 28 had B12 levels above the normal range from over-supplementing, with effects that are unknown [17]. The authors cautioned that families who volunteer for such a study are probably more aware of possible deficiencies than most [17].

Doctors in the Paris area described nine babies aged 4 to 14 months who were fed rice, soya, almond or chestnut drinks from health food shops or online instead of infant formula. Three had severe malnutrition with swelling, one had prolonged seizures from very low calcium, five had stopped growing and three had rickets (Le Louer et al., 2014) [31]. Those families had turned to plant drinks for a supposed cow’s milk allergy, and a 2026 review in Deutsches Ärzteblatt found further case reports of severe malnutrition from plant drinks, mostly in the first two years of life, though it judged such reports to be of limited value as evidence (Schlune et al., 2026) [32]. In the US, two babies fed a homemade vegan formula from a recipe on Pinterest developed rickets and dangerously low calcium, with seizures and cardiac arrest (Vieira et al., 2021) [33]. Whatever a family eats, a baby’s main milk until age 1 must be breast milk or a shop-bought infant formula [4][14].

What if a teenager wants to go vegan?

A teenager can eat well as a vegan, and Dietitians of Canada names teens among those who can [3], but a sudden change of diet is worth a closer look at the reasons. A 2020 systematic review of 20 studies found that most reported a link between vegetarian diets and eating disorders in adolescents and young adults, though the studies could not show which came first [18]. If a new diet comes with dramatic weight loss, avoiding eating with others or missed periods, the NHS advises telling them you’re worried and encouraging them to see a GP [19]. Eating-disorder charities can help too: Beat in the UK, Bodywhys in Ireland, ANAD in the US, NEDIC in Canada, Butterfly Foundation in Australia and EDANZ in New Zealand.