Vegetarian and Vegan Weaning of the Infant: How Common and How Evidence-Based? A Population-Based Survey and Narrative Review

Maria Elisabetta Baldassarre, Raffaella Panza, Ilaria Farella, Domenico Posa, Manuela Capozza, Antonio Di Mauro and Nicola Laforgia
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Maria Elisabetta Baldassarre: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, “Aldo Moro” University of Bari, 70100 Bari, Italy
Raffaella Panza: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, “Aldo Moro” University of Bari, 70100 Bari, Italy
Ilaria Farella: Department of Pediatrics, Queen Fabiola Children’s University Hospital, 1020 Bruxelles, Belgium
Domenico Posa: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, “Aldo Moro” University of Bari, 70100 Bari, Italy
Manuela Capozza: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, “Aldo Moro” University of Bari, 70100 Bari, Italy
Antonio Di Mauro: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, “Aldo Moro” University of Bari, 70100 Bari, Italy
Nicola Laforgia: Department of Biomedical Science and Human Oncology, Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, “Aldo Moro” University of Bari, 70100 Bari, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-17

Abstract: Background: Vegetarian and vegan weaning have increasing popularity among parents and families. However, if not correctly managed, they may lead to wrong feeding regimens, causing severe nutritional deficiencies requiring specific nutritional support or even the need for hospitalization. Aim: To assess the prevalence of vegetarian and vegan weaning among Italian families and to provide an up-to-date narrative review of supporting evidence. Materials and methods: We investigated 360 Italian families using a 40-item questionnaire. The narrative review was conducted searching scientific databases for articles reporting on vegetarian and vegan weaning. Results: 8.6% of mothers follow an alternative feeding regimen and 9.2% of infants were weaned according to a vegetarian or vegan diet. The breastfeeding duration was longer in vegetarian/vegan infants (15.8 vs. 9.7 months; p < 0.0001). Almost half of parents (45.2%) claim that their pediatrician was unable to provide sufficient information and adequate indications regarding unconventional weaning and 77.4% of parents reported the pediatrician’s resistance towards alternative weaning methods. Nine studies were suitable for the review process. The vast majority of authors agree on the fact that vegetarian and vegan weaning may cause severe nutritional deficiencies, whose detrimental effects are particularly significant in the early stages of life. Discussion and conclusion: Our results show that alternative weaning methods are followed by a significant number of families; in half of the cases, the family pediatrician was not perceived as an appropriate guide in this delicate process. To date, consistent findings to support both the safety and feasibility of alternative weaning methods are still lacking. Since the risk of nutritional deficiencies in the early stages of life is high, pediatricians have a pivotal role in guiding parents and advising them on the most appropriate and complete diet regimen during childhood. Efforts should be made to enhance nutritional understanding among pediatricians as an unsupervised vegetarian or vegan diet can cause severe nutritional deficiencies with possible detrimental long-term effects.

Keywords: weaning; infant; vegetarian diet; vegan diet; complementary feeding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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