Infant diet

November 19, 2006 9:56 AM

What is the protein requirement of a 12 month old baby boy ?

What should be a sample vegeterian diet ? Is a weight of 8.5 kg for a 12 month baby boy, something to worry about ?

posted by inquisitive to Health & Fitness (15 answers total)

Look here.
posted by ChazB at 10:18 AM on November 19, 2006

And here.
posted by ChazB at 10:20 AM on November 19, 2006

I don't have info in the way of protein, but one thing that may or may not already have occurred to you is the importance of fat in a baby's diet, which can fall by the wayside pretty easily in a vegetarian diet, as animal fats make up the majority of fats that most people consume. There's a thread about supplementing fats to babies here.
posted by hermitosis at 10:35 AM on November 19, 2006

Inquisitive, I'm glad you're concerned about this baby boy's health, and following up on that concern. Weight varies widely, and there are a lot of factors involved in calculating what a healthy weight is for any baby. That said, 8.5 kg at 12 months is a very low weight according to the standard growth charts. If this is your son, it would be an excellent idea to take him to see his pediatrician in order to assess his health, and to discuss what a healthy diet would consist of.

I am a vegetarian. I don't know anything about vegetarian diets for infants and children. I do know of childhood fatalities as a result of an unbalanced vegetarian diet.

There are a lot of things about nutrition that we just don't know a lot about yet, but getting as much information as you can find online, through your child's doctor, and through a nutritionist is a great start.
posted by moira at 10:44 AM on November 19, 2006

A baby needs a lot of fat in his diet. Whole milk should be a substantial part of intake. Or if you can't bring yourself to do that, then feed the baby butter every day, a lot of it.

That weight sounds very low, and almost certainly protein is not the problem.

This came up here.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:54 AM on November 19, 2006

I do know of childhood fatalities as a result of an unbalanced vegetarian diet.

I have read that there is no such thing as a balanced vegetarian diet for children under a certain age, and have seen it listed as anywhere from 18 months to 5 years.
posted by solid-one-love at 12:39 PM on November 19, 2006

If you are concerned about the health of your baby, and want to make sure he is getting a balanced diet, PLEASE GET SOME ADVICE FROM A MORE RELIABLE SOURCE THAN ASK METAFILTER. I've seen a lot of answers on health related questions here that are just plain wrong, bad advice, and this seems like a situation where you need some better information. Talk to a pediatrician or a nutritionist about this.
posted by bookish at 1:14 PM on November 19, 2006

I want to add to my previous answer by saying that protein is a not the central issue with a vegetarian diet. There are many, many nutrients that the human body needs, and the vegetarian diet makes it necessary to supplement through various other means. What makes this even trickier is that we still don't know what all of these nutrients are. Our knowledge of the way the human body and brain work is incomplete.

With children, the ground is even more unfamiliar. Their little bodies are very, very different from adult bodies, and their nutritional needs are very, very different from adult nutritional needs. Even what we might consider small variances in what they eat have a significant impact on both their physical and mental development. This is why speaking to a professional, and doing as much research as you can, is the best thing you can do right now, knowing that you want what is best for this little boy.
posted by moira at 1:15 PM on November 19, 2006

The WHO has recently published revised charts for child growth standards.

Executive Summary.

The executive summary points out that these charts were designed using data from mothers who were breastfeeding and following healthy practices (like not smoking).

Chart for boys (pdf)

As you can see from the chart, 8.5 kg for a 12 month old puts him in the 15 percentile, which is low, but not out of the ballpark.

My wife has reminded me that weight is not nearly as important a factor as the overall condition of the baby. Is he happy and active or is he unhappy and listless? You should be able to tell if he is unwell fairly easily.

That said, I'm not a big fan of heavily restricting a baby's diet, as moira said they have very different nutritional needs than adults. The best advice is for you to talk to a licensed professional.
posted by sic at 1:35 PM on November 19, 2006

In case anybody is interested here's the chart for girls.
posted by sic at 1:38 PM on November 19, 2006

If you are concerned about the growth or diet of your baby, please consult a dietician. Don't listen to askMe for this. Official organizations, like the ADA, agree that vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of life, including childhood. It is true that fat is more important than protein, for very young children. Just look at breastmilk, it is mostly fat, with about as much protein as a banana. This is the food that babies thrive on.

A good (but quite radical) book about feeding your children for optimum health is Disease Proof Your Child. There are many less radical books about healthy vegetarian diets for children, and good general vegetarian books usually include a chapter about children as well. I highly recommend you empower yourself and read about healthy diets.

If you want to talk about this with other vegetarian parents, check out Veg Family or VeggieBoards.

I checked the growth curve chart in the booklet all Dutch parents get with their baby-checkup-visits. The normal weight of a 12 month old child is between 8 and 12.7 kilo's. Your child is in this range. I cannot tell if this is a healthy weight for YOUR baby, though. That would depend on his height and his curve. You should really consult a professional if you are worried about this.
posted by davar at 1:55 PM on November 19, 2006

B-12, don't forget the B-12! He's going to need that from animal fats.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:24 PM on November 19, 2006

Please ask a professional. But stay strong and don't listen to the people who say babies "need" meat. I'm a lifelong vegetarian (now 29, with low blood pressure and never any medical issues).
posted by allterrainbrain at 10:09 PM on November 19, 2006

I suggest you 1) keep track of daily protein intake for a little while; 2) provide the kid with a minimum of 12 grams of protein. Milk is best, don't over do it on the soy.
posted by ewkpates at 5:39 AM on November 20, 2006

Dietary fat is necessary for infants to build synapses in their brains. Please don't fall into the trap of believeing that the 15th percentile is acceptable here.

See a doctor about the baby's weight and about getting more fat into his diet. It is far better for him long term to be a fat baby than a slender one (I know, I know - childhood obesity is an epidemic...but this is the most important time in his life for feeding those synapses !)

I'm not trying to talk you out of a vegetarian diet - but you may need to add a supplement to get his fat intake up.
posted by AuntLisa at 12:55 PM on November 20, 2006