What happens to a kid who becomes a vegetarian at age 8?!
Has anyone had problems with this? What do you guys think?
By the way, I am now a vegan and I am eating right, many fruits, and veggies, lots of water. I even take supplements and vitamins and have a balanced diet.
Answers: I was just wondering this because when I was eight-years old, I stopped eating meat and didn't eat many vegetables. I don't remember a lot about it, but my mom said I pretty much lived on white rice. Now that I am older, I realized that I have so many propblems. I have an undeveloped jaw-according to an orthosurgeon, I have bunions on my toes, suffer from depression, bad acne, poor concentration, flat feet, body image issues, excessive sweating, brittle nails, crooked teeth, poor vision,.... The list goes on forever. I started to think maybe becoming a vegetarian so soon in life while I was still growing might have something to do with my problems.
Has anyone had problems with this? What do you guys think?
By the way, I am now a vegan and I am eating right, many fruits, and veggies, lots of water. I even take supplements and vitamins and have a balanced diet.
I don't think that your issues have anything to do with a vegetarian diet. I don't know how old you are(and I mean no offense here), it sounds like many of you "problems" are that of many teenagers who have self esteem issues(they look at themselves and see everything wrong). You even say you have body image issues(I'm not sure to what extent), but could many of the "problems" you listed be a result of this.
Many of the symptoms you listed are pretty common, bunions, acne, sweating, bad teeth. You depression could be a result of the fact you think you have problems, which could lead to poor concentration.
Many children do not eat properly. I know a little boy that only likes to eat Mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. He does eat other things and is perfectly healthy, but I'm sure when his mother looks back she'll talk about when her son only ate Mac and cheese and chicken nuggets(even though he ate other things).
I became a vegetarian at 4 when my relatives killed my calf in front of me to sell as food... I don't eat that well but heck alot of people don't.
Personally I don't think it is related. If any of your ailments are caused by lack or protein or iron then perhaps being a vego played a part but other than that, nope.
Your diet of white rice was the problem as it has little real food value.Its alot like eating white bread all the time.Had you been a vegetarian with lots of varied vegetables you might be healthier now. Alot of those problems you have like teeth and vision can be genetic.
well ur doing good now but that sticking to only rice thing when u were younger was a bad idea...
Somebody asks questions about them in the V & V section of YA.
It sounds more like you became a rice-atarian. By eliminating the nutrients in fruits and veggies, you likely deprived your body of the things it needed to thrive. Just giving up meat does not make a healthy diet. Any diet needs to be well balanced to get the essential nutrients, minerals, and enzymes the body needs to grow. Giving up meat had nothing to do with it-you could have had just as many (or more) problems if you had just consumed meat. Likely, the rice you were eating was "instant" or quick cooking rice, which has very little nutritional value. My 13 year old daughter has been a vegetarian for years, and she is the healthiest child I know, and her pediatrician agrees with me. However, her diet has always been well balanced with a variety of fruits, veggies, whole graines, legumes, pulses, nuts, seeds, beans and sea grasses. She has never needed supplements and her vitamin and mineral levels are perfect (I have them tested every year) Its good to know you are taking better care of yourself now. Shame on your mom for not encouraging a better diet for you when you were younger. It was her place to ensure you got the proper nutrients, so don't beat yourself up about it. Just treat your body better now that YOU know better, and you will feel better for it in the long run.
I have been a vegetarian since I was 9. You apparently didn't get much nutrition if only eating white rice. There isn't enough of much anything in rice besides some protein and maybe a few vitamins.
I'm perfectly healthy now. I had some bad acne when I was 19, but I was a teenager with bad skin and hormone imbalances. I also wear contacts, but my vision isn't so bad that I need them all the time, only when reading in distances. I consider myself healthier than most people.
I rarely ate meat and no healthy food as a kid and im fine.But I also started eating good when i was 15.I don't think you had many of those problems from just eating rice,probably many factors,genetics,environmental toxins,etc.
Your growing years are critical years. If you don't have a good foundational diet, and you didn't, then long terrm physical ailments are the result . .. which you found out. This is a perfect example of what I've meant when you have these "kids" "going veggie" or "going vegan" during their growing years and not having a clue.
Unless thier parents are firm about "parenting" this is what happens. Many physical ailments in later life are more subtle, but may have thier origin in lack of a proper diet during the growing years.
If you have a balanced diet now then you shouldn't have any issues and you should start seeing improvement. If you don't, I highly recommend looking into raw veganism.