Health effects of vegan diets among children and adolescents are a controversial public health topic. Thus, the aim of the present systematic review is to evaluate a broad range of health outcomes among vegan children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 years. 18 studies met the inclusion criteria (17 cross-sectional, 1 RCT). Meta-analyses showed lower protein, calcium, vitamin B2, saturated fatty acid, and cholesterol intakes, and lower ferritin, HDL and LDL levels as well as height in vegan compared to omnivorous children/adolescents. Higher intakes of carbohydrates, polyunsaturated fatty acids, fiber, folate, vitamins C and E, magnesium, iron, and potassium were observed in vegans. Blood levels of vitamin B12 were higher among vegan children due to supplement use. Single study results suggested further differences between vegan and non-vegan children, such as lower bone mineral content or urinary iodine among vegan children. Risk of Bias was rated as high or very high in 7 out of 18 studies. The certainty of evidence for the meta-analyses was low (<i>n</i> = 2) or very low (<i>n</i> = 46). Overall, the available evidence points to both risks and benefits associated with a vegan diet among children, although more and better designed studies are needed.

People are increasingly encouraged to reduce animal food consumption and shift towards plant-based diets; however, the implications for children's health are unclear. In this narrative review of research in high-income settings, we summarize evidence on the increasing consumption of plant-based diets in children and update an earlier systematic review regarding their associations with children's health outcomes. The evidence indicates that vegan, but not vegetarian, diets can restrict growth relative to omnivorous children and increase the risk of being stunted and underweight, although the percentage affected is relatively small. Bone mineral content is reduced in vegetarian and, in particular, vegan children, compared to omnivores. Both vegetarian and vegan children who do not use vitamin B12 supplements manifest with B12 deficiency; however, supplementation rectifies this problem. Both vegetarians and vegans have lower concentrations of 25(OH)D if unsupplemented, and lower body iron stores, but usually have normal iron metabolism markers. Both groups are at risk of iodine deficiency, and this might affect thyroid health. Children consuming a vegan diet have a more favorable lipid profile than omnivorous children; however, the results for a vegetarian diet are inconsistent and vary by outcome. Based on the same scientific evidence, national and international dietary recommendations are heterogeneous, with some countries supporting plant-based diets among infants, children, and adolescents, and others discouraging them. We offer a research roadmap, highlighting what is needed to provide adequate evidence to harmonize dietary recommendations for plant-based diets in children. A number of measures should urgently be introduced at international and national levels to improve the safety of their use in children.

<b>Background:</b> With the increasing prevalence of pregnant women adhering to a vegan diet, gaining insight into their nutritional intake and its association with maternal and fetal outcomes is essential to providing recommendations and developing guidelines for general practice. <b>Methods:</b> Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a systematic review of the available scientific literature in Medline, Embase, and Cochrane was conducted in January 2024. <b>Results</b>: The titles and abstracts of 2211 unique articles were screened. Only six studies were eligible for inclusion and assessed for methodological quality using the (National Institutes of Health Study Quality (NIHSQ) Assessment Tool. The intake of protein and various micronutrients was significantly lower among vegan pregnant women compared to omnivorous women. Vitamin B12 supplements seemed sufficient in optimizing maternal and umbilical cord vitamin B12 levels amongst vegan mothers. Further, women on a vegan diet less often showed excessive pregnancy weight gain. However, children from women on a vegan diet had a significantly lower birth weight than those from women on an omnivorous diet. <b>Conclusion:</b> So far, only a few studies, with a large diversity of (assessment of) outcomes and insufficient power, have been published on this topic, limiting our ability to make firm conclusions about the effects of a vegan diet during pregnancy on maternal and fetal outcomes.

The number of people who avoid eating meat is growing, especially among young people. Benefits to health from a vegetarian diet have been reported in adults but it is not clear to what extent these benefits are due to diet or to other aspects of lifestyle. In children concern has been expressed concerning the adequacy of vegetarian diets especially with regard to growth. The risks/benefits seem to be related to the degree of restriction of the diet; anaemia is probably both the main and the most serious risk but this also applies to omnivores. Vegan diets are more likely to be associated with malnutrition, especially if the diets are the result of authoritarian dogma. Overall, lacto-ovo-vegetarian children consume diets closer to recommendations than omnivores and their pre-pubertal growth is at least as good. The simplest strategy when becoming vegetarian may involve reliance on vegetarian convenience foods which are not necessarily superior in nutritional composition. The vegetarian sector of the food industry could do more to produce foods closer to recommendations. Vegetarian diets can be, but are not necessarily, adequate for children, providing vigilance is maintained, particularly to ensure variety. Identical comments apply to omnivorous diets. Three threats to the diet of children are too much reliance on convenience foods, lack of variety and lack of exercise.

Vegan and other plant-based diets are becoming increasingly popular in the paediatric age group. There is limited evidence in the current medical literature to determine whether a vegan diet is adequate for children, since the currently available society position papers are based on narrative reviews and expert opinion. Updated evidence-based recommendations are needed to guide clinical practice. This position paper presents findings from a literature review performed using a systematic search strategy, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. We analyzed the current evidence on the effect of vegan diet compared to omnivorous diet on body growth, nutritional adequacy and laboratory biomarkers in infants, children and adolescents. Observational studies, cohort studies and clinical trials published over the last 15 years in MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library were retrieved. Our position paper aims to update the evidence for or against the adequacy of a vegan diet in infants, children and adolescents and to provide evidence-based recommendations. A total of 10 articles were accepted and included in the final review, providing information on approximately 1500 children following a vegan diet. Several articles assessed more than one outcome: seven addressed body growth, five evaluated nutritional adequacy and five examined laboratory biomarkers. To complement the primary data, three systematic reviews and meta-analyses were also included. Current evidence is inconclusive to determine whether a strictly vegan diet supports normal childhood growth, although no significant differences in height or body mass index z-scores were observed compared to omnivorous peers. We recommend that dietary intake, growth and nutritional status should be regularly monitored in vegan children. Focusing on dietary intakes (e.g., protein, omega-3, calcium and iron) and ensuring supplementation with specific micronutrients, including vitamin B12, is essential during paediatric age when following a strict vegan diet. Clinical research, well-designed prospective studies and high-quality trials are required to address current research gaps.

Recently, more people have adopted plant-based diets for health, environmental and ethical reasons. These diets offer significant health benefits for adults, including reduced chronic disease risk. However, research on plant-based diets for children is limited and often focuses on the risks of poorly planned diets. The lack of comprehensive studies leads to inconsistent recommendations for vegan (VN) diets in children, underscoring the need for a synthesized knowledge base to guide future research and clinical practice. This review aimed to analyze existing literature on the impact of a VN diet on children's health and development, identify knowledge gaps, and outline clinical and research recommendations. A systematic search across databases with key words was conducted to identify relevant articles on VN diets in pediatrics. Screening of 128 articles yielded 27 studies that remained after removing duplicates and irrelevant studies. The studies were primarily from Europe, especially the United Kingdom and Italy, and used cross-sectional designs, limiting causal conclusions and long-term impact assessments. Small sample sizes and self-reported data introduced biases and affected accuracy. The review emphasized the need for careful planning and supplementing VN diets to prevent nutrient deficiencies in children. Further research is needed to optimize VN diets, improve public health guidance and support healthcare professionals. Vegan diets can support healthy growth in children but require careful planning to prevent deficiencies. Healthcare professionals should be equipped to support families choosing VN diets for their children.

This chapter provides an overview of vegan and vegetarianism. It defines vegetarianism as the voluntary abstinence from eating meat and fish, while vegans consume no food of animal origin to avoid the exploitation of animals. People with eating disorders often report following a vegetarian or vegan diet, but there is a lack of evidence to show that vegetarian/vegan diets increase the risk of developing an eating disorder. The chapter considers the relevance of plant-based diets under the context of climate change while mentioning how nutrients in those diets might be lacking. It clarifies how the health of vegans and vegetarians differ from the health of omnivores.

Vegan and vegetarian dietary patterns have moved from minority dietary choices to central elements of contemporary nutritional guidance, supported by observational cohorts, short-term randomised trials, and umbrella-level evidence (i.e., syntheses of multiple systematic reviews) reporting favourable associations with body weight, blood lipids, blood pressure, glycaemic control, and inflammatory markers. Recent direct comparisons against healthy omnivorous comparators-including the OMNIVEG controlled crossover transitioning from a traditional to a vegan Mediterranean diet and the Landry identical-twin trial-indicate that well-formulated plant-based patterns can produce additional short-term improvements in selected cardiometabolic markers even when the comparator is not the modern Western diet. Interpretation of the broader evidence base is nonetheless constrained by comparator quality, residual confounding, exposure misclassification, reliance on intermediate biomarkers, and limited follow-up. This critical narrative review integrates clinical, methodological, nutritional, and physiological evidence to compare vegan, vegetarian, and omnivorous dietary patterns, and argues that the dominant explanatory axis of long-term outcomes is dietary pattern quality-minimally processed plant-rich composition, nutrient adequacy, low ultra-processed food intake, and adherence-rather than the binary inclusion or exclusion of animal-source foods. Well-planned vegan and vegetarian patterns are valid dietary expressions that require systematic attention to vitamin B12, iodine, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, EPA/DHA, and protein quality. Public health messaging should prioritise food quality, processing level, nutrient adequacy, adherence, and outcome hierarchy over binary dietary identities.

This review provides a comprehensive overview of iron metabolism, emphasizing the influence of dietary patterns-particularly vegetarian and vegan diets-on iron status and associated health outcomes. Concerns regarding iron deficiency anemia in individuals following plant-based diets necessitate a deeper comprehension of the factors affecting iron bioavailability and absorption. Non-heme iron, which is more abundant in plant-based sources, poses challenges about its lower bioavailability and this could contribute to an increased risk of anemia in these populations. However, recent studies challenge this assumption, revealing a more complex relationship between plant-based nutrition and iron status. Additionally, emerging evidence suggests that the potential association between red meat consumption and cancer may be partially mediated by the high intake of heme iron. This review highlights the complex dynamics of dietary iron in vegetarian and vegan diets, which, despite offering less bioavailable iron, often surpass the intake levels of omnivorous diets. The potential involvement of adaptive physiological mechanisms suggests variability in non-heme iron absorption to meet nutritional requirements. While well-planned plant-based diets can be nutritionally adequate, further research is needed to better understand their long-term effects on iron metabolism.

Several studies have suggested that vegetarian and vegan vs. non-vegetarian diets are associated with lower cancer risk overall, however, results for specific cancer sites have been less consistent. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies on vegetarian and vegan diets and cancer incidence to clarify the associations across cancer sites. PubMed and Embase databases were searched for relevant studies up to 5 July 2025. Summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated for the association between vegetarian and vegan diets and cancer incidence. World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) criteria was used to evaluate the strength of the evidence. Seventeen publications (seven prospective studies) were included. The summary RRs (95% CIs) for vegetarians vs. non-vegetarians was 0.87 (0.84-0.91, I² = 0%, n = 4 studies) for total cancer incidence, 0.55 (0.36-0.86, I² = 32%, n = 4) for stomach cancer, 0.86 (0.76-0.97, I² = 14%, n = 6) for colorectal cancer, 0.79 (0.67-0.93, I² = 38%, n = 7) for colon cancer, 0.55 (0.31-0.97, I² = 0%, n = 2) for proximal colon cancer, 0.77 (0.62-0.95, I² = 0%, n = 5) for pancreatic cancer, 0.79 (0.66-0.94, I² = 0%, n = 4) for melanoma, 0.92 (0.86-0.99, I² = 0%, n = 7) for breast cancer, 0.81 (0.69-0.95, I² = 0%, n = 3) for postmenopausal breast cancer, 0.78 (0.62-0.98, I² = 0%, n = 5) for bladder cancer, and 0.76 (0.63-0.93, I² = 0%, n = 4) for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In addition, non-statistically significant inverse associations were observed for some cancers, with summary RRs of 0.85 (0.70-1.04, I² = 0%, n = 6) for lung cancer, 0.83 (0.68-1.02, I² = 0%, n = 5) for ovarian cancer, and 0.87 (0.75-1.00, I² = 43%, n = 6) for prostate cancer. Results for other cancer sites were imprecise or near the null. The summary RRs (95% CIs) for vegans vs. non-vegetarians were 0.77 (0.70-0.85, I² = 0%, n = 3) for total cancer, 1.02 (0.71-1.48, I² = 42%, n = 3) for colorectal cancer, 0.80 (0.64-1.00, I² = 0%, n = 4) for breast cancer, and 0.87 (0.50-1.49, I² = 49%, n = 3) for prostate cancer. BMI explained a moderate part of the associations. The strength of evidence [judging the likelihood of causality] for vegetarian diets and total, colorectal, colon and breast cancer was judged as probable, and limited suggestive for stomach, pancreatic, and bladder cancers, melanoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and for vegan diets and total cancer and breast cancer was considered limited-suggestive. Vegetarian diets compared to non-vegetarian diets are associated with reduced risk of total cancer and seven specific cancer types, while vegan diets are associated with reduced risk of total and breast cancer. Although further studies are needed to assess the long-term adherence to vegetarian and vegan diets and cancer incidence and across less investigated cancers, these results support recommendations to adopt much more plant-based diets for cancer prevention.

lude adequate calories and nutrients, as well as the necessary supplements, such as vitamin B12, vitamin D and EPA/DHA. Given the current growing interest in plant-based diets among the general population, it is crucial to understand both the barriers, risks, and benefits of the vegan diet among physicians, policy makers, and the general population. Keywords: bioactive compounds, health, plant-based sources, prevention, vegan diet 1. Introduction 1.1. Topic overview Vegan diet has become a popular diet choice for people around the world, in recent times, due to concerns such as health issues, animal rights and welfare, and sustainability of the environment ( 1 ). A recent nutrition report from Germany stated that the number of vegetarians and vegan shaved doubled from pre-COVID (5%) to post-COVID (10%) ( 2 ). The prevalence of vegans in Europe has been estimated to be between 1 and 10% ( 3 ). Over the years, research has explored the nutritional benefits of a vegan diet and its potential effects on health and well-being. A well-planned vegan diet contains only plant-derived foods, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts ( 4 ). While these natural sources offer a myriad of essential nutrients, special attention must be paid to certain key components that may be more difficult to obtain solely from plant-based sources. To prevent deficiencies and ensure overall health and well-being, particular attention must be paid to nutrients such as protein, iron, calcium, vitamin B12, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids with a very long chain in a vegan diet ( 5 ). As adults cultivate a vegan lifestyle, their dietary choices can substantially affect their health ( 6 ). Many studies have identified that a well-planned vegan diet can provide numerous health benefits. Evidence supports that a vegan diet may reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and certain types of cancer ( 5 ). Research conducted in Adventists has presented

from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics for more specifics on how to obtain adequate calcium intake on a vegetarian or vegan diet. Vitamin D needs can Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, freshwater fish, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. A person who practices vegetarianism is known as a vegetarian. Vegetarianism may be adopted for various reasons. Many people object to eating meat out of re In…

density. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada state that properly planned vegetarian or vegan diets are appropriate for all Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vegan; the word is also used to describe foods and materials that are compatible with veganism. Ethical veganism excludes all forms of animal use, whether in agricu The…